Story and photos by Barbara Wood, American Red Cross volunteer

SOUTH FORT MYERS, FLA – One pair of Hurricane Ian survivors is ready to move on.

Wanda Collins and John Gaffney had mixed feelings as they packed what’s left of their belongings into the hatchback of a small, borrowed sedan, settled in their little dog Buster and set out for the long drive to St. Peters, Mo., where they will stay near Wanda’s 88-year-old mother in a one-bedroom apartment.  

They had just spent nearly a week on cots in the wide hallway of an American Red Cross shelter at South Fort Myers High School, after being evacuated by helicopter from their longtime home in St. James City on Pine Island.

Before starting their drive, they gave a round of hugs to Red Cross volunteers they’d come to know during their stay. 

“You guys have done a tremendous job,” Collins said.

“All you just made us feel comfortable, safe. Everybody was caring.”

At the shelter, the couple found not only refuge and food, but access to medical attention if they needed it. And, importantly, emotional support to face a new future.

Collins had been nervous about her first stay in a Red Cross shelter, but ended up reluctant to leave. “You don’t know what to expect,” she said. But now, “It’s time for Jack and I to get up and start living life.

“We lost the business. We lost the house. We lost the cars. We lost the boats,” Collins said. Everything in their home, which Gaffney purchased in 1988, was destroyed when the eye of the Category 4 hurricane passed right over them on Sept. 28. Ian brought water from the Gulf of Mexico and canals that crisscross their community into their home and up to inches shy of the rooftop’s peak. 

“Our house on the outside looks perfect,” she said. But the back of the house was blown out by the force of the water, which swept their possessions from one room to another.  “We have things from the bedroom in the garage.” 

Collins is philosophical about all they lost.  “We’re happy, we’re alive,” she said. “Things are things,” but she admitted it’s hard not to mourn those special things left to them by friends and family who are no longer here. “It was heart-wrenching.”

The couple rode out the worst of the storm in a two-story vacation home across the street from theirs; renters had left them the keys and security code before they fled to the mainland. “These people saved our lives,” Collins said.

When the storm hit, “it was like the wrath of God. I’ve never seen anything like that,” she said. The bridge linking Pine Island to the mainland was destroyed. 

Until the helicopter rescue, they survived on the food and water they had with them. 

Both their cars were submerged. John’s boating business was destroyed because his two 30-foot Century fishing boats were tossed onshore and wrecked.

Collins said they both love Pine Island for its beauty and its diverse population. But for the time being, they’ll retreat to Missouri and consider their future. They both hope their exile from the island they love is not permanent.

American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by generous donations from the American public. To support relief after hurricanes, wildfires and more than 60,000 disasters nationwide that Red Cross responds to each year, visit redcross.org/donate, text 90999 to make a $10 donation, or call 1-800-REDCROSS.