PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Neighbors in the Sun Retreats Dunedin mobile home community were without power for months after Hurricane Helene.
Many of them got their power restored in December...but they still don't have heat as temperatures remain low this week.
Despite months of no power, Deb Leary is optimistic.
"We still feel blessed, no matter what, we still feel blessed," said Deb Leary, who lives in Sun Retreats Dunedin.
She finally has electricity in her home in Sun Retreats Dunedin, after Hurricane Helene knocked it out.
"Because I have electric, I can cook a full chicken in my Insta-pot here and I'm going to make a little bit of stuffing and potatoes later, so we are going to have a real meal," she said.
While she has a roof over her head and power, she's still struggling to get back to normal.
"We are just getting used to things being the way they are and just rolling with it," said Leary.
Hurricane Helene destroyed her A/C and heating unit, and since then, she's been waiting to get it fixed.
"We've had weird bad weather throughout the country, so you know we are just thankful that we are not up where snow is, but we didn't expect it to be as low as 40 degrees here…so without having heat throughout the whole house, this is the best we can do," she said.
With near-freezing temperatures this week, she's relying on her space heater to keep herself warm.
"People who don't usually get snow are getting snow right now, so at least we aren't there. We are thankful to be in Florida even though it's been 37, less than 40 degrees in the morning," she said.
Barron's Air Conditioning company services the area and said since the storms, they've been inundated with calls.
"We've been busy since the storms more than we've ever been in any summer before…this is the busiest we've ever been, and we are still trying to catch up from October, and it's January now," said Jarrett Barron, who works with the company.
Barron is hoping to be caught up with the call list by February.
"Be patient. We are doing all we can in the community. We've been here for over 30 years. We're trying to help everyone we can," said Barron.
Leary said workers with Barron's Air Conditioning are scheduled to fix her A/C and heater next Wednesday
"We are thankful that we have managed to go through this and still be positive and looking forward to whatever life brings us in the new year, and it wont be this," said Leary.
ABC Action News reporter Sean Daly sat down with a remarkable Strawberry Crest High student who achieved a "perfect triple" — the rare feat of getting perfect scores on the SAT, PSAT, and ACT.
