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In Naples, an anxious return home to see what Irma left

 
Manuel Angeles (left) carries a chainsaw for clearing debris on a flooded street following Hurricane Irma in southern Collier County on Monday. At right, his nephew Francisco Angeles, 12, paddles a boat with a shovel. The family got together to work on the street, where they would soon move back in, along with neighbors. Irma made landfall in the area as a category 3 hurricane the prior day. (LOREN ELLIOTT   |   Times)
Manuel Angeles (left) carries a chainsaw for clearing debris on a flooded street following Hurricane Irma in southern Collier County on Monday. At right, his nephew Francisco Angeles, 12, paddles a boat with a shovel. The family got together to work on the street, where they would soon move back in, along with neighbors. Irma made landfall in the area as a category 3 hurricane the prior day. (LOREN ELLIOTT | Times)
Published Sept. 11, 2017

NAPLES — Charlene Garcia and her boyfriend, Justin Maschue, stopped their Nissan pickup truck at the downed trees.

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They were still a quarter mile from their home, unsure of what they'd find when they got there. But with trees covering the roadway, they'd have to walk the rest of the way in a foot of water.

They plunged out of the vehicle and into the water. They climbed over, under and through the blockage of branches. Garcia's black and pink Sketchers sneakers were soaked. Maschue tried to salvage his jeans by rolling them up. Hee had no choice but to sacrifice his black Adidases.

"When we got through the trees … my emotions were taking over, I wanted to start jogging," said Garcia, 35. "I didn't know if we'd have a house or what."

The couple had ridden out the storm in North Naples with Maschue's parents. The roads were dry on their drive south, a good omen, Garcia thought. But her optimism was zapped when she saw the floodwaters in her neighborhood.

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The couple finally turned the corner on Auto Ranch Road, which lies south of U.S. 41 and northeast of Marco Island, to take in their property. They had bought it in May.

"It's still standing, f--- yes," said Maschue, 36, a mechanic. "That's a plus."

The house was damaged, "but livable," he said after a walk-through. Some siding had been sheared off by Irma's wind, leaving insulation exposed. The vinyl that covered the empty space below the manufactured home had been ripped away. And some water had leaked into two of the bedrooms, leaving the house with a musty smell as it baked in the September heat.

Their garbage cans were gone, Garcia remarked, and one of the two palm trees was down.

"These aren't twin palms anymore," she lamented. "That one's a single."

She stood in the yard taking it all in, her hand over her mouth. Her eyes squinted and she couldn't hold back the tears.

"I'm just very emotional," Garcia said. It was both sadness and relief.

She'd been in South Miami during Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and on Marco Island for Wilma in 2005.

"I've seen what these storms can do," she said. "But when you own something of your own…," her voice trailed, "it could have been worse but it just sucks that it's not better."

Not many in the neighborhood fared better, though. Every house in sight suffered at least minor damage. The house behind theirs was totally destroyed, refrigerator on top of wall studs in a heap.

Inside, their house looked like a hastily evacuated home, with outdoor furniture stacked between the microfiber couch and the enormous television. Dishes sat in the drying rack beside the sink, something they didn't get to before deciding to evacuate Saturday morning.

Behind the couch was a fallen painting of lower Manhattan, the old World Trade Center towers shimmering under a night sky.

It was Garcia's picture, though she has never been to New York City.

"It's on my bucket list," she said.

Then why the painting?

She said she saw it after 9/11, which took place 16 years ago today.

Nearby hung a collage of their kids — they each brought two to the relationship. Maschue's kids were with their mom in Kentucky during the storm. Garcia, who works at the Marco Island YMCA, left her kids with Maschue's parents in North Naples.

Inside the collage was this quote: "The best things in life… aren't things."

That didn't stop Garcia from walking into her bedroom and shouting: "All of my clothes are still here! I still have my clothes, honey!"