High winds and torrential downpours during Tropical Storm Debby flooded numerous streets, homes, and areas in Collier County over this past weekend. The Empowerment Farm , a local educational center and agricultural space, is still dealing with multiple feet of water days after the storm.
"It wasn't until Monday morning when I drove on to the farm and my heart just sank. We had to get all these animals out of here. Everything completely underwater," said Tiffany Lehman, the founder of the Empowerment Farm along Keane Avenue in Golden Gate Estates.
The facility, which is a nonprofit, focuses on sustainability and education. Purchased just a year ago, Empowerment hosts classes on biology, horticulture, gardening and more, as well as summer camps and field trips.
"We were just starting to roll out. That's kind of the heartbreaking factor is, we had just had our really big, first onset of programming, this past week," added Lehman, who says that the classes have been canceled due to water damage.
The animals were evacuated during the storm, safely being relocated to a nearby employee's home until the water drains.
"It was a little bit of a challenge. I'm not too far, but the fact that all the water was in the way. We do have a trailer at the farm, but the trailer, unfortunately, is in the water at the moment, so we couldn't get them out on that trailer," said Ashley Ebrite, who is taking care of the farm's animals and serves as the groups' Operations Manager.
Due to the flooding, many pieces of the farm, including facilities for the animals, multiple buildings, and over 120 fruit trees, are expected to be destroyed. Owners estimate the water damage to be north of $100,000.
"The water is not moving much. It's not. That's the hard part ... we're gridlocked. It doesn't seem to have anywhere to go, and that's part of the problem," said Lehman.