East Naples retirement community overwhelmed but strong after hurricane

Some of the trailers lost roofs and had windows blown out.

At the age-restricted Enchanting Shores retirement community on Manatee Road east of Collier Boulevard, ceilings caved under the weight of water.  

A mobile home flipped on one side. Walls toppled over, and gutters twisted.

Dick Muterspaw returned to East Naples on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017, from his full-time home in Ohio to find ceiling leaks, a punctured roof and his lanai destroyed in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

"I didn't think I was going to have an ounce of anything left when I came back," said Dick Muterspaw, a seasonal Enchanting Shores resident. 

He and his wife live in Ohio during the summer and kept track of news about Hurricane Irma at their son's home. Muterspaw's wife stayed up north while he and his son-in-law arrived Sept. 14 to assess damage in their East Naples trailer.

Hurricane Irma's winds tore away Dick Muterspaw's lanai at his home in the Enchanting Shores retirement community in East Naples.

Part of the ceiling in the kitchen had collapsed, and some of their cabinets were soaked and moldy. Their lanai, which Hurricane Wilma damaged in 2005, was leveled by Irma.

Muterspaw said he's been depressed and overwhelmed by the damage in his home, his neighbors' homes and the work that has to be done to return to normal.

"It's one thing to deal with this as a 50- or 60-year-old," he said. "It's entirely different to deal with this as an 82-year-old. I can't sleep thinking about all the things that need to be done. Sometimes I think maybe I should just go home and forget about this place."

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If it weren't for his son convincing him to return to Florida to take care of business and his son-in-law coming with him to help, Muterspaw said he doesn't know how he would have done it. Neighbors also checked on him to keep his spirits up.

Hurricane Irma dealt a particularly devastating blow to Collier County's mobile home communities. 

Dick Muterspaw, 82, stands in front of his home in the Enchanting Shores retirement community in East Naples. Muterspaw returned to Naples on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017, from Ohio to find ceiling leaks, a punctured roof, and his lanai destroyed in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

Residents of Enchanting Shores say that, under regular circumstances the community is tight-knit and neighbors know each other. They invite one another over for games and meals, check on each other's homes when someone leaves and host dinners at their clubhouse that quickly sell out.

The hurricane has brought them closer and will make them more resilient when the next one hits, according to property manager Charles A. Imondi. 

"We prepared as much as we could for this one," Imondi said. "It's been a learning process and has required a lot of patience. It's only my first month on the job. We secured the homes if they weren't properly secured and hoped for the best."

Imondi talked most of the residents into evacuating before the hurricane hit Sept. 10.

He and resident Jay Hatcher started preparing the property for the storm more than a week before it hit, they said.

Dick Muterspaw returned to Naples on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017, from his full-time home in Ohio to find ceiling leaks, a punctured roof and his lanai destroyed in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

"We've probably been on more than 50 roofs," Hatcher said.

They secured everything from the trailers to the trash cans and assessed damage afterward. They covered broken windows with Styrofoam, and they used aluminum that scattered throughout the property to patch roofs and holes as best they could.

"It was awful to see the damage after the storm left," he said. "Half the community flooded, and the other half had serious structural damage. It was heartbreaking to have to call some people and tell them their roof was gone or their windows got blown out."

Imondi said the community will work toward better preparing for storms and hurricanes but that there is still work to be done to recover from Irma.

The water was shut off from the park for several days, and sewage overflowed, residents said. They were hot, hungry and wished they had air conditioning to feel more comfortable, but they were also grateful that they had homes to come back to. 

An unknown projectile crashed into the roof of Dick Muterspaw's home in the Enchanting Shores retirement community in East Naples during Hurricane Irma.

"We thought we were going to be leveled," said Claudette Hatcher, Jay Hatcher's wife. "We cried and hugged when we came back and saw the house intact."

The Hatchers' home had some minor damage to the porch 

Residents cleaned up their properties over the weekend. They spread the word that FEMA representatives were in the clubhouse so people could ask about receiving aid.

As they usually do, they came together for one another.

"One of the things that warmed my heart was to see one of the residents cooking outside for everyone for several days after the storm," Imondi said. "It melted me. He'd have everyone over, and they'd all share a meal and forget their problems for a little bit. This place has humbled me."