PORT ORANGE, Fla. — Residents in Port Orange continued cleaning up the pieces Sunday from the trail of damage left by Hurricane Matthew.
George Ile, who lives along the Halifax River, returned to find his home’s concrete walls reduced to rubble and his hot tub and dock submerged by water.
“I couldn’t believe that this was my street,” he said. “My backyard is gone. There is nothing left here.”
Photos: Skywitness 9 surveys Hurricane Matthew damage
Ile had evacuated his home ahead of the powerful storm’s arrival.
“It's a lot,” he said. “But I’m thankful to be alive.”
Port Orange resident Cherie Monroe lost everything in the storm.
"It was my parents' home and my home for 35 years, and it's all gone," she said. "Everything inside. Everything outside."
While Monroe has insurance, many of the people in her neighborhood don't, and getting back on their feet is going to be difficult.
"I feel so sorry," she said. "These are good people. Friendly. Hard working. It's not a rich neighborhood, a lot of elderly people, but this is all they had."
Things weren’t much better at the Seven Seas Marina & Boatyard.
“I knew it was going to be bad,” general manager Michael Hutton said. “I just didn’t realize it was going to be to this extent.”
Photos: Skywitness 9 surveys Hurricane Matthew damage
Hurricane Matthew sank four boats and obliterated the marina’s dock.
“It's going to take a lot. It's going to take a while,” Hutton said. “But we will rebuild. That's all we can do.”
Rebuilding was what was being done Saturday at Aunt Catfish's.
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The restaurant’s servers feared they might not have a building to come back to. They said the floodwaters near the restaurant reached 3-4 feet high.
“It looked like it was completely under, like you could kayak your boat through it,” server Kyla Cady said. “We had literally only one glass fall down on the table, so we are very fortunate.”
Volusia County estimates cleanup efforts will cost nearly $100 million.
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