TAMPA — Close to 50 Tampa families, all affected by Helene, were at the Wash Zone in South Tampa on Tuesday. Many said that their clothes were all they had left.
“We lost everything, we just grabbed our clothes and that was it, we figured we could wash those, that’s about it,” said Sandra Attmore.
Attmore said when she returned after evacuating her Tampa home, her wardrobe was floating out of the closet.
“All of my clothes are filled with salt water, I’m taking them out of the car and the salt water is dripping off of them,” said Attmore.
Then there’s Sue Scotti. Her Tampa Bay Buccaneer blankets are the only thing she has left that remind her of home.
“Basically homeless now with no vehicle. I don’t know how I’m going to get to work, just right now I’m focusing on getting my clothes clean so I’ll have something to wear,” said Scotti.
Every one of these residents has their own heart-wrenching story. The city of Tampa said it wanted to help, so it teamed up with the non-profit organization Current Initiatives to offer a free laundry day for hurricane victims.
“You know my heart breaks for everyone, when you are out living life one day, and then over night your situation has changed, you are looking at what next, what to do,” said Janelle McGregor, Director of Community Engagement and Partnerships with the city of Tampa.
“The ability to put on clean clothes does a lot for our mental health, it does a lot for our ability to look forward and to find hope,” said Jason Sowell founder of Current Initiatives.
These hurricane victims say it’s nice to know that the community understands what they are going through and they are willing to go above and beyond to help.
“Awesome, very awesome, and its a blessing also,” said Latanya Davis.
For more information on Current Initiatives, go to this link.
The massive piles of debris littering communities across the Bay Area are not likely to end soon. We went to Town n Country, Baycrest, and Dana Shores to see how those areas are coming together.
