Our father, Robin Kimps, was on Pine Island, which was a direct hit from the hurricane. His story is definitely a heroic tale with movie like qualities from start to finish. We last heard from my dad that morning 9/28 at approximately 10am. As you may be aware, it was total devastation to the barrier islands and surrounding area. We could not reach anyone in South West florida, but held out hope that we could and would get ahold of someone. Early Friday Morning I finally heard from my cousin from Naples Florida who I had messaged early on Thursday to see how they had fared. They had their own outrages to deal with. When she got back to me she said she had last communicated with my father a couple hours later than my sister, and he said he was still at his mobile home. This was troubling but still we didn't have enough information to jump to conclusions. Thursday, my sister and I decided to utilize social media to get my fathers name and face out there as a missing person. Strangers were helping us locate my father. Such a blessing. Because of those people helping us search a National News station picked up our story and wanted to help. So we planned to go on the News that night and ask people to contact us if they saw our father, a missing person. Well an hour before we were supposed to go live on the news we got a message that an article had shown up in the Wall Street Journal (copied story below) that let us know our father and his girlfriend had survived, and they were now at a hospital. By late Friday night he finally got a room and could hear his voice in the background with the Nurse. That night we were able to offer some hope on the news that dad had been found. Since then there’s been a lot of unsettling things, like flesh eating bacteria, though slowly but surely he is recovering, if not as speedily as we would desire. He’s currently in Miami and has some additional procedures that need to be done before he can be discharged into rehab. We don’t know how long this process will take. Your kind words and thoughts have been and continue to be appreciated deeply. Anything that you can offer would help reduce the impact of this devastating blow to the small communities in Pine Island, which is already fast tracking in its rebuilding. My dad is quite a ways off from getting back into his spot at the KOA, which is to reopen in the next 12-18 months. In the mean time recovery is of the utmost importance. The current plan is for him to stay with my sister in Maryland once he's actually released from rehab in the hospital, but the timeline is very unknown. Grandchildren time at my sister's, I bet, will be the best medicine!
Below is the message we received after 60 hours of wondering, worrying, and waiting to locate and or hear anything concerning my father. If you can believe it, the tale is much crazier than this Wall Street Journal article. It's a wonder they survived and in as good a shape as they did, in spite of the secondary infections from the funky water. It's hard to do his story justice, but imagine being outdoors in just 75 mph wind and rain. It was more than double that, with flooding of 5 feet or more above the road. There was no where to go, but to wait it out and secured as best they could. He said at times it was better just to submerge in the water because the wind made them so cold and the rain hurt. We're just grateful they weren't crushed by the boats, trees, telephone and power poles, and that by the time they were submerged in water the electricity had gone out. The way Dad described it, it was quite mythical the way everything was relatively normal for a hurricane and then all the sudden the water rose by many feet at a time very quickly... The surge was the most surprising by his account and clearly the most dangerous... They survived by hanging on to that vehicle for 4 or more hours before things calmed. They walked until they found people, and they sat outside in the dark and recounted what happened. I'm grateful there was community, and that dad was wise enough when the pain started in his legs that he sought help from the Cajun Navy. as was stated, it's hard to do it Justice, and one of the nurses at the first hospital in Ft Myers said she was in tears most of the story. It's still shocking when dad recounts other parts of the story.
So, any amount of assistance can help at this time. Our father lost EVERYTHING. Thankfully in the hospital he is well cared for, but when he's released, we will need to try to get him situated so he can continue healing and recovering. The most sincere gratitude and appreciation to EVERYONE in advance for any assistance that can be offered. If you can donate actual items, we have been compiling a list of what is needed, and it's not complete yet, as medical supplies will be needed once he is released from rehab. Your continued thoughts and prayers are equally as important in this situation, and we've felt it throughout.
🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
