United Cajun Navy treating, feeding, soothing survivors in wake of Hurricane Ian

Chad Gillis, Fort Myers News-Press
·6 min read
2

Egon Schulz sat in a lawn chair near the doorway of his South Fort Myers condominium Wednesday afternoon, his left forearm reeking of infection and covered in soaked bandages.

An 83-year-old German resident who spends winters here with his wife, Brigitte, Schulz didn't want anyone to call 911. It seemed he either didn't trust the official agency response teams or that he just wanted to be left alone.

"He's going gangrene," said Toney Wood, a volunteer with the United Cajun Navy who found Schulz while driving around looking for survivors and those in need of water and food. "I took one look at his arm and I could smell it. We need to get medics in here."

Wood sent a fellow volunteer back to the local fire station to get help.

When paramedics arrived, they told Schulz it was time to leave, that or he would turn septic and be dead in a matter of hours.

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Emergency medics treat injuries to Egon Schulz, 83, a winter resident of the Island Park neighborhood in South Fort Myers, on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. With no electricity in his home after Hurricane Ian arrived, he had fallen in the dark and an infected injury was putting his life in danger.
Emergency medics treat injuries to Egon Schulz, 83, a winter resident of the Island Park neighborhood in South Fort Myers, on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. With no electricity in his home after Hurricane Ian arrived, he had fallen in the dark and an infected injury was putting his life in danger.

German resident fell down flight of stairs, twice

Dressed in a stop sign red T-shirt with an image of a sailboat on it and the word "FLORIDA" in poker-card sized letters, Schulz fell down a flight of stairs, twice, ripping the skin from the top of his forearm.

"It happened two times and I said, 'Not a third time. You won't live through a third time,' " Brigitte said. "So we put a flashlight on the window seal. He fell down a flight of stairs two times and didn't break anything. It's a miracle."

Members of the United Cajun Navy treat injuries to Egon Schulz, 83. a winter resident of the Island Park neighborhood in South Fort Myers, on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. He fallen down stairs in the dark after Hurricane Ian arrived. On the right is his wife, Brigitte Schulz.
Members of the United Cajun Navy treat injuries to Egon Schulz, 83. a winter resident of the Island Park neighborhood in South Fort Myers, on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. He fallen down stairs in the dark after Hurricane Ian arrived. On the right is his wife, Brigitte Schulz.

A former paratrooper, Schulz said his military training took over when he fell.

"I rolled, then I know I'm not going to break my neck," he said with a half-smile.

Bruised and battered, he was likely a few hours from death, medics said.

The German couple had just returned to their winter home on Sept. 23, the Friday before Hurricane Ian hit.

Sick, hot, tired and with a belly full of grilled cheese sandwiches, Schulz finally agreed to receive treatment from the medical staff.

"I'm glad we were here to be honest," Schulz, 83, said before leaving his condo. "Other people we know took off to Miami or wherever, and I said, 'You're nuts.' We stayed upstairs."

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Other residents get help in South Fort Myers

A grateful Karen Plak gets a hug from Toney Wade of the United Cajun Navy in the Island Park neighborhood on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022. The volunteer group was handing out food, water and supplies to people affected by Hurricane Ian. Plak was living on bare necessities before the United Cajun Navy arrived in the South Fort Myers neighborhood.
A grateful Karen Plak gets a hug from Toney Wade of the United Cajun Navy in the Island Park neighborhood on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022. The volunteer group was handing out food, water and supplies to people affected by Hurricane Ian. Plak was living on bare necessities before the United Cajun Navy arrived in the South Fort Myers neighborhood.

These types of scenes have been playing out in South Fort Myers for a week, since the United Cajun Navy pulled up to the southwest corner of U.S. 41 and Island Park Road with truckloads of water, clothing, diapers, food, medical supplies, tents, tables, chairs and, most importantly, eager volunteers.

Wood drove to the home of Karen Plak, who lost everything from her South Fort Myers condo, to follow up on a Tuesday visit.

He wanted to see if she was eating and had plenty of water, but Plak wasn't home.

The group knocked on her door, but no one answered. So they called.

"I'm on my way to put my dog down," Plak said of her 15-year-old canine companion, while crying. "It's awful."

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Nancy Kelley shows damage in her home in the Island Park neighborhood of South Fort Myers on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022. Her home was flooded and she lost all of her downstairs possessions. The United Cajun Navy was handing out food, water and supplies to people affected by Hurricane Ian.
Nancy Kelley shows damage in her home in the Island Park neighborhood of South Fort Myers on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022. Her home was flooded and she lost all of her downstairs possessions. The United Cajun Navy was handing out food, water and supplies to people affected by Hurricane Ian.

Volunteers have found injured residents here and are delivering first aid kits to the wounded and cold water to the thirsty.

The neighborhood looks, well, like 9 feet of storm surge washed over it for several hours. That's exactly what happened during the height of Hurricane Ian.

In the past few days, the people of Island Park have largely moved their possessions to the side of the road as the homes here flooded by storm surge.

Furniture, pianos, lamps, mattresses, rolled-up carpets, boats and appliances are stacked so high that it's impossible to see the actual homes.

Volunteers have been serving lunch and giving out supplies daily between noon and 2 p.m. and again from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Supplies were gone within about an hour Wednesday.

Church crews from Louisiana were cooking 1,000 plates of jambalaya. The ingredients: 300 pounds of chicken and pork, 140 pounds of rice, 30 gallons of water and lots of seasonings and spices, all mixed in cast-iron pots the size of small bath tubs.

In the neighborhoods west of U.S. 41, in a community that has been flooded several times over the past decade, volunteers rode on horse from house to house to check for anyone in need and to help comfort those who were suffering here.

The horses are therapy animals as well, and several people came from their torn and tattered homes to pet and feed them.

Brian Thrasher, vice president and spokesman for the United Cajun Navy, said the group worked with R&L Carriers to secure the distribution location.

"We were in Puerto Rico responding with a small team for Hurricane Fiona and we saw Ian coming so we advanced our Florida chapter out of the Vero Beach area," Thrasher said. "As Ian was moving over the Fort Myers area we relocated down to this area."

He said supplies are coming from all over the country and that the nonprofit has been able to respond faster and with more efficiency than many government agencies during tragedies like this.

"We have trucks coming from Louisiana, Massachusetts, Georgia, Texas," he said. "This is what happens: We push a button and stuff starts happening."

Electricity crews work in the Island Park neighborhood of South Fort Myers on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. The area was devastated by Hurricane Ian.
Electricity crews work in the Island Park neighborhood of South Fort Myers on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. The area was devastated by Hurricane Ian.

Thrasher said the Island Park area and South Fort Myers communities will need time, even years, to recover from a disaster similar to the ones United Cajun Navy has responded to over the past several years.

"This is a 100-year storm, and we knew it was going to be bad," Thrasher said. "The big problem is you have an older demographic back there and the problem is their cars are flooded and they're walking out here on foot to pick up water and (food). And it's going to be a while before they get a new car."

Thrasher said Hurricane Ian will become the defining moment in modern Fort Myers history.

"We know what you're going through, we went through it and in some ways we're still going through it 17 years later," Thrasher said. "And I promise you in 15 or 20 years you're still going to be talking about Hurricane Ian as the big one."

Donations can be made at www.unitedcajunnavy.com.

Connect with this reporter: @ChadEugene on Twitter. 

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Hurricane Ian volunteers set up headquarters near Island Park