Hurricane Ian aftermath: Businessman saves many lives at Island Park

At least one house burned to the ground, while one man reportedly saved more than two dozen lives by literally pulling them from their attics in the flood-prone Island Park community.

Neighbors give Mike Murphy credit for saving upwards of 27 lives,10 dogs and a cat by pulling people from their attics.

He and Roy Johnson leapt from the second story of Murphy's house and swam 100 yards to a fishing skiff. They climbed aboard the boat and started going house to house, knocking on roofs to see if anyone was was alive below.

"When the surge came up we got a call from a friend of ours and a lady down the street with a special needs son was swimming in the living room," Murphy said. "So we got the call and we had a Carolina skiff out back."

Johnson said it was impossible to explain how intense the storm was, that it was a difficult to see as waves washed up into the neighborhood.

"Unless you were there, you just can't understand," he said.

Live updates: 21 deaths confirmed with five not storm-related, Lee County sheriff says

Gas, supplies, Publix: What's open, where to get what you need after Hurricane Ian

Murphy said hurricane conditions pounded the community for nine hours.

"It was in the middle in the storm and blowing every bit of 100," he explained. "And I told (Johnson) that we had to wait for the storm to pass; but he jumped off the dock and into the water and swam around to the skiff and I saw he did and I wasn't going to let him go, so I jumped in."

Murphy said the water was so deep that he was able to made landing on top of his large truck.

"I got in the boat and I parked the boat on top of my truck," Murphy said. "And we started going door to door, started beating on people's roofs because people were in their attics. They had to come out and go under the doors."

Murphy said the boat was filled with people as he drove through the flooded neighborhood.

"We had 13 families, 27 people,10 dogs and one cat," Murphy said.

Some people were hesitant to leave their homes, he said.

"They wouldn't leave because they had two dogs and cats and we drug them into the boat and that was the last people we were able to get," Murphy said.

The high-water mark in many of the houses was about 5 feet up the first floor walls.

The aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers Beach.
The aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers Beach.

Some people lost boats — they have no idea where they landed — and others saw their homes, roofs and pool cages scattered throughout the neighborhood.

Maryjane Mitchell and her husband, George Mitchell, could only find one small ficus in a bucket that was left among what was, days before, an extensive flower garden.

"We not only lost our house and our belongings, we lost everything in our lives," George Mitchell said. "We're just existing now. I mean, when are we going to be able to move back?"

That small tree and a blanket for the neighbor's dog sat on pedestal in the middle of the driveway, which reeked of raw sewage and sulfur.

Then there was the family heirloom clock from the 1800s, which woke the Mitchells every morning for the past 47 years, sitting nearby.

"It still worked," she said while wiping the moisture from the front of the clock. "But it's steamed up now. We've had it on the mantle all these years, and it wakes us up every morning."

Songbirds chirped and flew through what was left of the tree canopy.

Maryjane opened the clock door to let the humidity out of the delicate timepiece.

"We've lost everything," she said, tears rolling down her face.

The Mitchells wore masks over their faces to keep the septic smell and any mold out of their respiratory system.

"We waited until the last minute," George Mitchell said. "We wouldn't be here today if we hadn't left. I'm surprised we're here."

A brown maroon and tan pontoon boat was in a tree near the burned home across the street.

Maryjane Mitchell flipped through pictures on her phone, showing photos of her granddaughter and the neighbor's dog.

It seemed as though she was looking for some type of comfort, some kind of normalcy.

"I don't know why I'm looking through these pictures," she said, her eyes misting. "It's just something to see, I guess."

Maryanne Mitchell said she felt lost and alone.

"I need to watch the news because I feel not so alone," she said. "(At least) I'm with somebody."

Maryanne Mitchell taught music in Lee County school's for 30 years and lost her piano, classical guitar and all her sheet music and books.

"We just had it appraised not to long ago," George Mitchell said. "And it was $10,000 and our granddaughter learned to play on it."

"She was going to get it one day," Maryanne Mitchell said of her granddaughter.

Their neighbor, Phillip McAfee, saw his boat across the canal, several homes away.

"My trailer and my boat was parked right here and there's my trailer across the canal and that's my boat that was on that trailer," Phillip McAfee said. "That's a brand new motor, too."

Their hot tub out back was filled with sea water, and the yard was soggy and soaked.

McAfee is now one of thousands of Lee County residents looking for a home.

"The tough part now is getting temporary housing," McAfee said.

Connect with this reporter: @ChadEugene on Twitter. 

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Hurricane Ian: Fort Myers' Island Park dealing with flooding