Belle Glade got hit hard by Hurricane Irma. Many had evacuated the area and on Monday they came back to find their homes surrounded by flood waters and downed trees, crushing their cars and parts of their houses.
Even those who have lived through many storms in the area say Irma was different.
“It’s terrible, it’s never been like that," said a Belle Glade resident. “It was worse. When Irma was here we had to go to the shelters in West Palm. It was too bad.”
City Hall is surrounded by water and so is the fire station. Large trees were uprooted, blocking roads.
Joe Martinez had evacuated a local trailer park just before Irma hit.
“First thought was, glad everybody left," Martinez said.
Some at the trailer park almost lost everything. A tree crushed one home flat.
“These people work so hard," Martinez said.
Martinez made sure everyone left before the hurricane arrived.
“I knocked on doors and screamed and made sure nobody was in there," Martinez said.
Now he's helping clean up the area. He's desperately looking to borrow someone's chainsaw to cut down the large trees that had fallen.
"I'd go into any store and buy one but they're all closed," Martinez said.
He said the storm could have easily cost someone their life.
“If they did not leave from here, it would have," Martinez said.
