'It's overwhelming:' Sarasota County residents get first look at flooded homes after Debby

SARASOTA, Fla. - They were taken from their home by boat on Monday.

"It looks like it’s down to the door," said Andy Ard.

Three days later, it still took a boat for Pastor Andy Ard and his wife to reach their home in Sarasota County's Laurel Meadows neighborhood.

"It’s overwhelming, just a bit. The water is definitely down, but you can see how high it was," said Pastor Ard.

They returned for a few hours, seeing the damage caused to their floors, dry walls and furniture as their home took on 12-18 inches of water after Hurricane Debby brought record rainfall.

"We’ve been here for almost 10 years. We’ve never had water issues. Never had water issues. We were here for Irma, we were here for Idalia and Ian. Nothing like this has ever happened," he said.

READ: Sarasota neighborhoods still left with flooding 4 days after Tropical Storm Debby

Andy is the pastor of Bayshore Church. When church members like Brade Mullett heard what happened, he and his brother brought boats to help.

"People need help and they don’t have a lot of options," said Mullett.

They worked to take residents they’ve never met from the road to their water-logged homes.

"We feel bad for these people. We feel fortunate because we had a lot of rain at our place, but no flooding. These people are going through it," said Mullett.

Andy and his wife collected clothes for work, photo albums and items for their sons.

"My faith is everything. I rely on knowing Jesus has me. That’s my life. That’s my story. I’m a part of his story, so this is just one bad chapter in the part of his story," said Ard.

Still, the community is asking why.

"This is economically devastating for us. We don't have the money, or flood insurance. For me, I feel like that’s beyond our neighborhood responsibility. We are paying the price for whether it’s development or not enough drainage because of the development. I’m hoping and praying that they see this and they will investigate it and take responsibility for it," said Ard.

READ: State Senator Joe Gruters calls for investigation, financial help following Sarasota County flooding

State Senator Joe Gruters sent a letter to Governor Ron DeSantis and the State Senate asking for immediate financial help beyond SBA loans. 

He’s also calling for an investigation into why new neighborhoods and communities built under modern codes saw flooding, while others did not.

As they left by boat once more, the Ards know when they return, it’ll be a long road ahead of them.

"There will be a better chapter beyond this," he said.

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