ENGLEWOOD — With Hurricane Helene expected to make landfall in the Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane, some Englewood residents had no idea just how ugly things could get, as they faced the backside of the monstrously large storm.
Most of Thursday was quiet with light rain, prompting people to drive around and check out the rising tides or the occasional fallen sign.
It wasn’t until the evening when things got nasty.
Hundreds of people around the area experienced flooding as the storm surge pushed onshore right around sundown.
Shannon and Mitch Messenburg, who run the volunteer organization Operation Solid 7, were constantly checking on people as the winds picked up, the tides rolled in and storm surge began rising.
Their friends on Manasota Key said the whole first floor of the house was flooded. Luckily, they were in North Carolina. Other friends on the beach endured devastation.
“She just remodeled the kitchen — and that whole side of the house is gone,” Shannon Messenburg said.
“Took out the whole wall,” Mitch Messenburg added.
The Messenburgs said the timing of the hurricane couldn’t have been worse.
The most worrisome check-in was with the Vogel family.
Water was coming into the house at a fast rate. Many of the survivors of flooded houses described the experience like a river suddenly flowing into the house.
“She said ‘oh my gosh, we’re getting electrocuted,’” Shannon Messenburg said. “Their feet were burning because the water was getting so deep.”
The Messenburgs told the Vogel family to get up on something higher and not conductive to electricity.
“Luckily, they have a huge island in their kitchen, and all five of them, them, their two kids, their son’s daughter and the dog are on the island because they couldn’t get to the main to shut it off,” Shannon Messenburg said. “They called FPL and FPL wouldn’t shut off the power.”
Hearing the chaos and struggle over the phone, Mitch Messenburg wanted to go over and rescue the family immediately.
“It took everything I could to restrain him,” Shannon Messenburg said. “Amy (Vogel) said don’t come because you can’t get down our street.”
The Vogels live in the Point of Pines neighborhood off of Lemon Bay. The entire neighborhood was evacuated by the Englewood Fire Department.
“One of their cars floated away,” she said. “They bought that house after Ian, and put millions into renovations and now it’s destroyed.”
Mitch Messenburg went to get the Vogels after the rescue to bring them to a safe and dry home. He said he’s never seen so much water on State Road 776.
“It was surreal,” Mitch said.
Seeing the effects of Hurricane Helene in real time and on Facebook was difficult for a lot of people, including the Messenburgs.
“We’re able bodies, we got a truck, anything, we’re willing to do what we can to help anybody,” Shannon Messenburg said. “It’s just, I can’t imagine losing everything, so we’re just truly blessed.”
Flooding was reported all around areas near the Gulf of Mexico, Lemon Bay, various creeks and Charlotte Harbor. Neighborhoods effected included the Old Englewood area around Dearborn Street, Gottfried and Ainger Creeks, Grove City, Placida, South Gulf Cove and portions of Rotond West.
Jonathan Varner also jumped into action to help people as the water came up Thursday night. He knew his home would be relatively unscathed throughout Hurricane Helene.
“I have one of those houses where I just feel very confident that we’re gonna be OK during these because we’re far enough away from the water, we’re high enough and we’re new enough,” said Varner of the Wampler Varner Insurance Group.
When tide was starting to come in along with the storm surge it brought, Varner and his friends around the community began to hear about people getting stranded in their homes and cars.
Varner, Jack Halstead and Brii Emery jumped into action to assist a family trapped in their car near Dearborn Street.
“There’s a part of me that knew I could help,” Varner said. “There’s someone out there that’s way steep in water right now, and so I kind of just started calling through my phone book and making sure that my friends were OK.”
Varner said the water that was once just shallow around Englewood’s roads rose to a level by 8:30 p.m. so quickly it was washing away cars.
“The water is so deep that cars are becoming disabled,” he said. “I’m driving to these people’s cars, like, right to them so they can jump, they can get out of their vehicle, stand on my side rails on my truck, and get them into my truck and get them dry and get them somewhere.”
Varner said most of the people stuck were coming home from work. He worked with his friends to rescue people in both cars and houses.
“I think a lot of people maybe didn’t assume or hoped that it wouldn’t be quite as bad as it was,” Varner said. “There’s so much loss.”
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