FORT MYERS, Fla — As Victor Vega of Wilkes-Barre sees a fishing tour boat on top of San Carlos Boulevard in Fort Myers, Florida, he stood there in shock.
"The destruction is just, this is the worst I've seen. I've been to 11 catastrophes around the country, and this is by far the worst when it comes to damage," said Victor Vega, Wilkes-Barre.
In between catastrophes, Vega is running towing and automotive businesses in Luzerne County.
"We come down here with a team of other tow truck drivers, and with a disaster relief, and what we do is we remove a lot of the water damage vehicles in order for them to access their properties and to get to the cleanup effort started," explained Vega.
Victor showed Newswatch 16 a car he and his company would tow away from the destruction near Fort Myers in San Carlos to an auction yard in Okeechobee or Arcadia. He says it is one of the easy ones compared to others he's seen. Some of the cars are not as easy to get to.
"Where we are, you know, we're dealing with pulling out a car that's under a house that collapsed debris, oil, tons of hazards. You know, we had one yesterday where we had to winch the boat off of the car, but the boat was initially in the water, and how it got, about 50 feet from the water on top of the car. When we were initially pulling cars out of Naples, some of them were in like a fountain in the development on the high-rise. Some of them are in the bay. But the majority of them in the Naples area seem to be in the parking garage under the building, which is another like a cereal bowl full of water," said Vega.
Vega is expecting to be a part of the cleanup effort here for at least another month.
"Appreciate everything you have. No matter how low it is. Appreciate it all because just like that, it can just be gone. Whether it's materialistic or your own life, just appreciate that you wake up the next morning. It's that first breath; it's a blessing," said Vega.
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