Hurricane Irma took nearly everything from longtime Plant City resident Shari Bickhart, including her life, when a massive oak tree toppled on her home. Now, the ex-Marine who rescued her is reaching for help to piece Bickhart’s life and home back together.
WHEN THE STORM COMES
It was near midnight and nearer to pitch black.
Irma’s winds were blowing over Christina Peters’ farm, slapping against homes in her Lanier Road neighborhood and swinging tall oak trees to the limits of flexibility. She was getting ready to settle into bed for the night when she sent a final text to reassure a friend.
“Everything will be fine as long as one of these trees doesn’t fall,” she wrote.
Then the call came. One of the trees fell.
Bickhart, Peters’ 72-year-old next-door neighbor, needed help. She was watching TV from the same straight-back chair she sits in every night when the windows in front of her blew out and the front of her home ripped open.
“I thought the wind had blown the front of the house in on me,” Bickhart said. “I didn’t know it was a tree until Christina told me."
Peters, 30, a former Marine Corps captain, said that’s when her training kicked in. She sprung from bed and ran to Bickhart’s adjacent property.
“I hopped out of bed, put on my shoes and just ran over here with a flashlight,” Peters said. “I didn’t know what was happening. I just assumed the wind had blown the trailer open, but then I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, these trees are coming down’ and then I started to get nervous.”
The massive tree covered Bickhart’s front door, it’s branches piercing walls and windows. One branch entered the house right where Bickhart would’ve been in bed any other night and its trunk lay pushing through the roof just above where Bickhart was sitting.
Flashlight in hand, Peters pushed against the wind and torrents of rain to make it to the blocked front door, then rushed to the back of the house where she was able to reach Bickhart. The women grabbed Bickhart’s 50-year-old Yellow Naped Amazon Parrot, Sammy, and ran back to Peters’ home.
“I was so lucky,” Bickhart said. “My hero.”
AFTERMATH
By the Thursday after Irma struck, the tree that devastated Bickhart’s home laid in large pieces along the road, just removed from the house by Hillsborough County crews. Inside, branches littered the bedroom and appliances were blown all over the kitchen.
Bickhart has lived in the home for more than 40 years and can’t afford to have insurance on it. Social Security is her primary source of income, she lives primitively but spirited, mowing the large swath of land behind the house and helping Peters take care of her horses and dogs while Peters is at work.
“Every day, she comes over. She’s always taking care of them when I’m at work,” Peters said. “This is me trying to pay her back.
Bickhart lost nearly everything in the storm, even her car was damaged when it got pinned between the house and tree. Peters has set up a GoFundMe page to help Bickhart recover. The page has received more than $4,000 in donations from 55 people since going live.
Bickhart is not alone. Destruction from Irma’s path has been widespread said FEMA spokesperson Bill Lehman. Lehman said assistance is available for people in situations like Bickhart’s, but when relief can be expected is unclear.
“FEMA’s program is designed to help people who are uninsured or underinsured for housing assistance, in addition there may be assistance for housing needs or vehicle needs,” Lehman said. “In a normal disaster you can get a check within seven to 10 days. It’s hard to put a number on this one because two continuing disasters taking place, Texas and Florida. It is being expedited. We know people are hurting.”
Lehman said registration is key. Getting on disasterassistance.gov or calling 1-800-621-3362 and registering is the first and currently most crucial step to making sure there’s a chance for someone to receive FEMA services including grant money, aid with repairs, rental assistance, long-term housing in motels and transitional assistance for evacuees returning home. FEMA disaster recovery teams are also going door to door registering people and a disaster recovery center has been set up in Riverview at 6437 Watson Road. There is, however, a cap on how much grant money FEMA can provide, Lehman said.
With more rain coming daily and branches and holes still filling Bickhart’s home, Peters is doing all she can to make sure her neighbor’s life gets back to normal as soon as possible,
“When you see somebody who needs help you can’t just ignore it,” Peters said. “Especially when you have somebody who is so selfless, that’s when you really want to help that person, your heart just kind of melts for them. I think more people should care.”