M.J. Eckford might have escaped Hurricane Hermine, but her home didn't.

  • Ozello resident forced from island home by rising waters
  • Water rose to more than four feet in neighborhood
  • Family now battling mold in the building

"We've lost our floors, and all of our appliances and the clean up's the pain in the rear end," Eckford said.

She and her partner loaded up their things and their pets in a mobile home and headed for higher ground as the canal behind their island home rose. They couldn't even come back until a few days ago.

"We came back Saturday and the neighbors behind us got here before us and started ripping out our carpets and things before it went too far, so it helped us out a lot," she said.

The water rose to a little more than four feet in the neighborhood off Waterman Drive. Eckford is thankful there wasn't more damage to her home, though now she's battling mold.

"Mold has already taken over and it's been less than a week," she said. "It's just you got to get in there with all those chemicals that I'm not fond of and clean everything."

M.J. Eckford bought this property along with her partner in April. Even though the floodwaters topped over four feet in this area, she said she won't move. (Amy Mariani, staff)

Still, Eckford said when they moved to this area in April, they knew living on the water came with its own set of concerns.

"You're crazy if you buy island property and don't know somewhere in your mind that 'yeah, this is a big possibility,'" she said.

Eckford insists, however, that some flooding won't scare her away.

"Ozello is probably the most unique place I've ever been," she said. "The community here, even just down this one canal, everyone is beyond friendly."

"We'll fix this up and it'll be great again in a few weeks," she said. "We won't even know this happened."