Some Osceola residents finally returning home after Irma

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Some Osceola County residents of a senior living community have started returning home after the area was hit with post-Hurricane Irma flooding.

Officials say the entire Good Samaritan Society – Kissimmee Village was under a mandatory evacuation in the days after the storm. Monday, activity on the property started picking up again.

“We’re just trying to pick stuff up around the yard,” said resident Robert Forsyth.

“My house is a little higher up so it’s fine but down here it looks like a real disaster,” said resident Sonja Henning.

The water is still high in some areas – creeping into homes and covering golf carts.

“I’ve talked to a couple people that lived over there and they had a foot of water inside, their furniture is gone, they got it a lot worse than we do,” Forsyth explained.

Many people with damage can’t come back yet.
The Good Samaritan Society says on its website that around 80 percent of its apartments, which is more than 500 units, will need renovations.

On top of that, the organization says the flood waters on site are highly contaminated.

The community is just starting to deal with the storm’s aftermath and there’s a lot of work to do.

Good Samaritan Society says it will be holding meetings for residents impacted by flooding on Tuesday.