NAPLES, Fla. — Flood waters have not receded yet in all parts of Naples.
But Joe Adiutori wasn’t waiting.
He’s been hard at work clean up after Hurricane Ian left water throughout his home.
What You Need To Know
- Naples man rides out storm in his home, now facing cleanup
- Joe Adiutori said it was a lesson learned he wouldn't do again
- Live Ian Updates: Assessment, cleanup continues for battered communities across region
“It got to the top of the fire hydrant,” Adiutori said of the water level. “It’s got like a water mark over there by my door. Got about six inches in my house and I’m picking up the floor. Picking up the floor so it will dry out.”
Adiutori said he would do what he could to clean up inside before addressing all the debris outside his home. All without electricity as the major of southwest Florida remains without power.
He said it’s a lot to do, especially after not even expecting the storm to hit Naples.
“I basically did about nothing,” he said of preparations. “You know picked up around the yard and that’s about it.
“I’ve been in this house for 25 years so I did Charlie in this house, Irma in this house. Irma almost flooded but it didn’t. So I wasn’t that afraid of it. Because Irma was like a Category 4 that hit right over Naples and I’m like this is a Category 4 it’s going to hit north of Ft. Myers, I’ll be okay.”
His father Jean, who lives with him heeded all the warnings.
“Actually he was the smart one,” Adiutori said of his father. “He went to a hotel two days earlier or the day earlier so it was just me and my brother. So he was on the third floor of a hotel. He was safe.”
Now, Joe is left tossing out what the storm left behind in his home and keeping the lessons it left behind.
“It’s a lesson for sure,” Joe said of riding out Ian. “When they talk about surge in the future I’ll probably pay more attention to and maybe get out of here too.”