ZOLFO SPRINGS, Fla. — Birthdays. Holidays. Special occasions. Reggie and Denise Workman’s Zolfo Springs’ home played host to them all for their three children and eight grandchildren.
What looked like a mobile home to some was a mansion to them.
But on Monday, as Denise stood at the curb examining the home she considers a family heirloom, which is currently surrounded by water, her voice trembled as tears welled in her eyes.
“We’ve lived for 35 years,” Denise said. “This is our life.”
The home, which is located on Parkview Terrace, was flooded by a swollen Peace River when it reached a historic “major” flood stage because of the rain dumped on the area — and those upstream — by Hurricane Ian. Even though the home is elevated, water lines inside the home show it was inundated with almost a foot of water.
In fact, the gauge on the Peace River in Zolfo Springs reached a record 27.24 feet at Zolfo Springs. That measurement easily eclipsed a previous record set in 1933.
“I’m just at a loss for words,” Denise said.
As Ian approached, she evacuated to a nearby family member’s home but was forced to evacuate again as even that home, which was located on higher ground, also flooded.
“It’s just unbelievable,” she said.
Denise and her husband unlocked the door of their beloved home and saw that although the floodwater was gone, reminders remained: a floor that showed signs of buckling and an oppressive, musky smell.
“I feel like this is probably mold and mildew,” she said.
Denise quickly grabbed a number of pictures from the wall, but much of the water-logged house likely can’t be salvaged, she guessed.
“It’s very hard to see it like this," she said. "This was our life. You see that wall? That’s our children and our grandkids. I’ve been told all week how everything can be replaced, but we worked so hard to have this.”
To Denise, a feeling of hopelessness is hard to shake, even as the remaining river water, which still covers most of the front and backyards, quickly retreats.
“It’s almost like a death in the family. That’s what I would compare it to,” she said.
Despite the tears, Workman counts herself as fortunate. She has family nearby and a long-term place to stay. Plenty of others in Hardee County don’t have that, she said.
“This whole street, I mean, they’re in shelters right now,” she said.
The county said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has arrived in Hardee County and that it's brainstorming with other partners on how to formulate “temporary housing plans” for those whose homes are now unlivable.
Back at her home, it’s hard for Denise to see the big picture, determine what comes next, and figure out how her little town will ever make a comeback.
“I know it can be done, but I know it’s going to take a long time,” she said.
For now, all Denise can do is embrace the verse front and center on her t-shirt: “Let your faith be bigger than your fear.”
“We’re going to be okay,” she said.