HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - Residents across Broward County are trying to pick up the pieces after their homes were affected by the historic floods that forced a family in Hollywood out of their home.
Cleanup efforts continued Friday from Fort Lauderdale to Hollywood and beyond.
Hollywood resident Nina Cancel described how the floodwaters made her house unrecognizable.
“I thought I was in a war zone. This was a disaster, completely,” she said.
7News cameras captured Cancel and her loved ones trying to vacuum the water from their residence, located off Freedom Street, as they tried to salvage whatever they could.
Cancel said they can no longer live in their home and are asking for help.
“Everything is gone. This is what you see that we’ve been wearing for three days,” said Cancel.
Like so many homes across Broward, floodwaters rushed in on Wednesday and soaked everything in their path.
Fort Lauderdale resident Hallie Hodder showed 7News the water damage to their home along Cat Cay Lane.
“I would say about two inches in our garage was full of water, flooded all that, so all of our cabinets inside all got water damage,” she said.
Hodder said the water rose several feet alarmingly fast.
A woman who lived near Southwest Ninth Avenue and 15th Street in Fort Lauderdale was also cleaning up.
“I had the plants and debris in the front and in the backyard because everything kind of gathered up and pushed itself to the side of the house,” she said.
Cancel said the water inside their home was so strong that it even knocked over the refrigerator, and at one point, it was over a foot deep.
“Every time I walked in my house, I just want to sit down and cry for an hour. I lost everything: my furniture, my things, my pictures of my kids,” she said.
The flooding also damaged their medication.
“I have all my medications; I can’t afford them now, because you can only get them once a month,” said Cancel, “so I can’t afford anymore of my medications. I have to wait.”
The family has been cleaning up since Wednesday night and have been sleeping in their SUV that was stalled out in the storm.
Cancel said they are now praying for help and a miracle.
“I can’t go nowhere. I’m a security officer; I can’t go nowhere without a car,” she said, “and all this — my mom bought me this house before she died, so it’s like, all that money that I’ve put in has been wiped out in less than a day.”
Even though the floodwaters linger inside and outside Cancel’s home, a considerable amount has receded. When asked what her next move is, she said she doesn’t know.
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