East Naples nurse making progress lifting own home after Hurricane Ian

EAST NAPLES, Fla. (WINK)—An East Naples nurse is making progress in lifting her home, after taking the process into her own hands, three years after Hurricane Ian.

The home belongs to Valeri Acierno, a full-time nurse who escaped Hurricane Ian on a paddleboard. When other elevating services didn't work out, she assembled a team, bought a quarter of a million dollar jack machine and is lifting her own home—something she hopes will also benefit her neighbors.

When other options to lift her home didn't pan out, that inspired her and close contractor friends to start their own lifting company. Acierno says her home is the guinea pig.

WINK News reporter Maddie Herron checked in on the project in early April once the yellow lifting jacks were in place. In the first few days, they hoped to get the home all the way to four feet.

After two days of lifting, the house sat at just about three feet. The homeowner said she hoped to get it to five before pouring the foundation.

Acierno says it's not a cheap project and there are learning curves, but she says having peace of mind in a storm is priceless.

"Peace of mind is an understatement," Acierno said. "We're still lifting the house to get it out of the flood zone, and I am happy to say that we are officially at BFE plus one, which is base flood elevation plus one, which meets the Collier County code, building code."

With how fast this team is raising their home, they say they need more wood for the cribbing that goes right under the house. If they can get it done, they hope to fill in the foundation by this week.