Michael and Monica Matheny Hurricane Recovery

My brother is genuinely the hardest-working person I know. He wholeheartedly puts his all into creating and building a home and safe land for his family to thrive. It's been heartbreaking to see so much of that work washed away and a plethora of new projects added to the itinerary. One of the other things I admire about my brother is how resilient he is. Every blow that's ever come his way, he's allowed it to roll off and continues to persevere forward. I have full faith that with the help of his strong-willed diligent wife and four eager kids, they have no lack of energy and willingness to rebuild stronger than ever. I know that he and his family will do absolutely everything within their control to do so.

The unfortunate aspects of a destructive disaster like this that's outside their control are the funds needed and loss of income to put the time in. They can only do so much without the proper financial support, and insurance money is not coming in promptly or abundantly. Any little bit that we can cumulatively give will profoundly help them along their journey.

Hurricane Ian ravaged and flooded Michael and Monica's homesite property near Port Charlotte, FL, which they acquired less than a year ago. Although they have insurance on the home, it does not cover hurricane flooding and a lot of their losses. Sustained winds of 140mph and rain for over 8 hours covered most of the property and all exits under 3-4' of water. Trees over 100 years old were completely uprooted, fencing was crushed, and animals were lost. Hurricane damage carries a much larger deductible than usual, and much of the damage to outbuildings, fencing, the destroyed driveway, personal property, and trees are not covered.

They chose a home with land to accommodate their horses (which miraculously survived) and for their family to be in the country. It included a small guest home that they fixed up and rented to reduce the expense of the property. It also included a shop that, in addition to tools and storage, Michael utilized as his office. Purely by circumstance, Mike, Monica, and family had traveled to Missouri for a wedding and to visit family. After they made the drive, predictions of Ian's landfall location continued to move southward to become a direct hit to their area. The guest home renters lost power and had interior water damage. All roads were under several feet of water, stranding them at their location, so they evacuated their home and moved into Michael's house to ride it out. They were stranded for several days and Mike and Monica were unable to return until flood waters receded. The main home took on some water, but at the highest point on the property, it escaped the worst of the flooding. The shop/office and storage unit were also thoroughly water-damaged.

They temporarily left their two youngest children with family in Missouri so that they could better focus on the cleanup and rebuilding process in front of them. They bought equipment and supplies on the long trip back to their home without power.

Friends and family have shown a desire to help but don't know how from a distance. Please consider donating to their restoration and rebuilding process. Thank you sincerely in advance; it truly is deeply appreciated.