WELLINGTON, Fla. — WPTV News is committed to being your voice as communities recover from the tornadoes that devastated multiple communities in our area.
WPTV anchor Mike Trim returned to the Pine Trace neighborhood in Wellington's Binks Forest community recently.
Trim reported there broadcasting live in the immediate aftermath of a tornado spawned by Hurricane Milton.
The village of Wellington told Trim that 24 homes were damaged in the powerful tornado on Oct. 9.
Tony Brazzale spoke with Trim outside his Pine Trace home in the early morning hours after the tornado.
Trim revisited Brazzale and stated: "When I talked with you last time, there was a big tree — in the middle of the night in the immediate aftermath — there was a huge tree outside your home."
"There were two trees here, big around," Brazzale told Trim.
The huge oak trees narrowly missed Brazzale's home when they fell into his front yard.
On that Oct. 9 night, Brazzale used his chainsaws to cut through debris throughout the neighborhood.
While the neighborhood looks different now, it's clear of debris.
"It shows the strength of the Wellington community," Brazzale said.
Many homes in Pine Trace are still getting their roof replaced.
The repairs are slow-going for some.
"Everybody's having headaches with insurance. The insurance company wants to quickly close the claim for as little as possible, saying 'Oh, this can be repaired,' versus the roofing company that has a more detailed report," Brazzale said.
Pesky, lingering damage is also a nuisance around the neighborhood.
Showing Trim his front yard, Brazzale said, "This is a Comcast wire that came up out of the ground. I don't have a Comcast account, I can't get a hold of anybody at Comcast."
The glaring difference in the neighborhood is huge trees and vegetation along the north end of the community are gone.
That was a natural barrier between Pine Trace and Southern Boulevard.
"You can see it up along there, the height of vegetation was pretty high. The tornado came through and like a gigantic rake just brushed things up and over and shattered trees," Brazzale said while showing Trim the damage.
Brazzale said the village, contractors and sheriff's office have been great at cleaning debris and keeping Pine Trace safe.
There were no major injuries but plenty of rebuilding is ahead.
"I never used to be able to see my house from the grocery store parking lot," Brazzale said. "So we're kind of hoping that this gets replanted."
