ENGLEWOOD, Fla. (WFLA) — Residents at an Englewood mobile home park are thankful this Thanksgiving, after dangerous utility poles and cables knocked down by Hurricane Ian have been cleaned up. Now they can move back home.
8 On Your Side’s Shannon Behnken first brought this story to light in early November, when mobile home residents called Better Call Behnken for help, saying they were getting the runaround from utility companies.
When Hurricane Ian hit, Steve Henley was left with a transformer on his home and said he couldn’t start repairs and move home because the pole was still on his home. Henley lives at the Deer Creek Mobile Home Park in Englewood.
After Better Call Behnken showed the conditions at the park, where poles and cables were on homes and strewn over the property, 8 On Your Side got in touch with utility companies.
Then, a few days later, the poles and cables left behind more than a month after Hurricane Ian hit were removed.
Henley told 8 On Your Side that he’d reached out to power company Florida Power & Light for help, but he was told by FPL that residents with other utility companies had to get their debris removed first.
“It’s a true blessing that we got you involved, and as many guys that showed up here after you were here,” Henley said after the debris was taken away. “It looked like we were having a super bowl party and free beer and burgers because there were guys everywhere running around, doing their thing.”
Henley said now that the debris is removed, he just has a few things in the home to fix before he moves back in.
