'It's gone': Hurricane Milton swamps lives, blows away retirement dreams in Punta Gorda

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. – When Hurricane Helene hit two weeks ago, James Sowards knew his home near Charlotte Harbor would flood. He tried to evacuate – but his 2005 Chevy truck wouldn’t start. He stayed in his truck cab as water rose above the seats.

This week, ahead of Hurricane Milton, he got his starter fixed. He spent Wednesday night in a shelter, sleeping in the hallway of an elementary school. As day broke Thursday morning, he drove back to Punta Gorda to find his home blocked by floodwater.

Inside, the 71-year-old truck driver in a Navy Veteran cap knew he would find the same wet and moldy mess of ruined drywall, clothing and furniture that he’d still been clearing out – only worse. He had insurance, but it was getting more and more expensive.

“I’m thinking about just getting rid of it,” he said, looking across the water at his home. “And just get out of here.”

Just over 12 hours after Milton made landfall in nearby Siesta Key as a Category 3 hurricane, residents of Punta Gorda, perched on the Peace River and Charlotte Harbor, emerged under clearing skies to survey the damage and begin to clean up.

They found Milton’s fierce winds and storm surge were so powerful they’d deposited large sailboats and motorboats on front yards near the city’s waterfront.

Elsewhere, neighborhoods were inundated with water. Piles of debris, including furniture that hadn’t been picked up from Hurricane Helene, were scattered. Some homes had broken water lines. The power had gone out, leaving stores and gas stations closed. Street lights were not working.

Milton had also damaged the city’s popular Fisherman’s Village, an area of shops and restaurants. In a marina next door, some of the boats lay half-sunken or rammed against docks. Some boat owners, bleary-eyed from a sleepless night, showed up to find their dock lines had broken and their boats were damaged.

Across Florida, Milton destroyed homes, ripped the roof off a major sports venue and toppled a massive crane into an office building. Two deaths were confirmed in St. Petersburg and four others were confirmed in St. Lucie County on Florida's east coast following tornadoes there. Power outages inched higher Thursday as the storm exited off the eastern coast of the state, and more than 3.4 million homes and businesses were in the dark.

It had been an especially rough night for Jeff Weiler.

The 61-year-old engineer said that in the past, he thought storm surges often hadn’t lived up to forecasts.

“I used to say to everybody, don't worry about the water. They say, we're going to have a surge. Don't worry about it,” he said.

So he decided to stay put for Milton in Punta Gorda Wednesday night.

About two hours after Milton made landfall, with winds howling and the storm pushing seawater ashore, he heard a “crash.” A section of a local dock that broke loose in the storm surge blasted into his house.

As water gushed to roughly waist deep, he started wishing he had evacuated. Instead, he retreated to his second floor as Milton marched east across Florida.  “We had maybe 7 feet of surge,” Weiler said. They also lost power and broke a water line.

But the worst news would come the next morning.

Last fall, he cashed in his 401(k) to purchase a 60-foot boat that had long been part of his retirement dream. He finally got it out of the shop for repairs and paid a full year of insurance. He planned to work for just one more year.

Instead, he learned the boat had suffered what he believed to be fatal damage.

“I just cashed in my retirement to buy that boat,” he said, choking back tears as his dog, Einstein, sat next to him. “It’s gone.”

He’ll have to sort out insurance to see if he can still retire soon. But he said he’s staying in Punta Gorda. He says it’s unlikely the area would experience back-to-back hurricanes anytime soon.

Elsewhere on Thursday, like many other storm-damaged areas, Charlotte County officials urged residents to stay off the roads as public works crews assessed damage and cleared debris from roads, some of which were blocked by water or trees.

Charlotte County officials including its emergency management agency were also sharing information for residents who might need anything from housing shelters to Red Cross assistance in finding missing loved ones.

Local firefighters checked on homes and boats, including looking to see if anyone was inside a sailboat that landed atop a city park.

Near one marina, Lee Capriolo took in the destruction. She was in Punta Gorda visiting her son, Vince, when the storm hit. They boarded up the windows of his house ahead of time. The house survived, though they are likely to be without power for a few days.

She has been looking for a place of her own in Florida. After Milton, she said she still wants to live in the Sunshine State – if she can avoid an area where there is a regular risk of such devastating flooding. Capriolo said she might look to move further inland.

“This is paradise. People down here are amazing,” she said. “But I know I don't want to live in Punta Gorda.”

(This story was updated to correct a misspelling/typo)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hurricane Milton damage: winds, flooding sweep away retirement dreams