The Peace River Wildlife Center in Punta Gorda will be closed for several days as staff and volunteers work to clean up after Hurricane Helene.
The 43-year-old facility at Ponce de Leon Park sits just a few feet from Charlotte Harbor. Today, executive director Tricia Lapointe showed us the sludge. They estimate there was roughly three to four feet of water inside the habitats, as well as at least a foot in the offices that sit slightly higher up.
"One of [the] thousands of reasons why this is not a good location for us," Lapointe explained. "We did everything we could."
Lapointe said they evacuated virtually all of their animals, pelicans being an exception. Many went to the veterinary clinic in town. Other animals, like the ambassadors, went home with the volunteers who handle them on a regular basis.
Lapointe said one bird that remained at the facility died. Two others died inside the vet clinic.
"Stress can kill a bird, and that's exactly what happened. It's not good to crate them up and move them a lot. They're used to their homes. So, we had a barn owl here that didn't make it and a cattle egret and a vulture that were at the hospital."
She couldn't keep the tears in talking about the only way this could have been prevented.
"Just another reason why we need the new center. We'll be at nine feet above sea level. The buildings will be ten, and at worst case, with a storm, we can move everybody inside the buildings, which will be hurricane-rated to 170 miles an hour," she said.
PRWC broke ground on their new location last summer. They're still working on fundraising efforts to help reach the financial burden of construction. Right now, the timeline has that facility on Henry St. in 18-24 months.
However, Lapointe said if people could donate now that would help them expedite that process. She said they do not need any more volunteers right now for clean up.
"What we really need now is financial help. You know, somebody said, if everybody watching gave $100, we could be out of here in in the new center. We do still need money for the new center, but that is really the answer to not having to deal with stuff like this anymore," she said.
While the center and their clinic is closed to clean up, a Venice based rescue is going to take over any intakes.