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VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Myra Parente and her husband said their Wilbur-by-the-Sea home and back deck were once paradise — until the arrival of Hurricane Nicole.
“It was gorgeous,” Parente said.
But when their seawall collapsed, the ocean washed away their backyard and deck, and left a corner of the house teetering after a portion of the foundation crumbled.
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The house was one of several that collapsed due to the strong impacts of Nicole, which hit Florida’s east coast early Thursday morning.
The couple thought their property would be fine because they had a seawall, Parente said.
“You underestimate the power of the ocean. You underestimate Mother Nature,” she said.
Hurricane Ian took out their seawall, and the couple said that Nicole finished off what Ian left behind.
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“Nicole tore up our landscaping. We had a temporary seawall after Ian,” Parente said. “Nicole washed it away along with our deck and stairs to the beach.”
As bad as it looks, AJ Rockwell with Sea Level Development said it is one of the few houses in the area that can be salvaged.
“We’re putting temporary stabilization seawalls back in place, piling the sand behind it, then the plan is to put piles to try to hold up the house to stabilize it until permanent repairs can be done,” Rockwell said.
The house is unlivable now, but the couple said they are determined to bring it back.
“We’re gonna get it back. We’re gonna get it back and it’s gonna be better,” she said.
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