Irma's debris remains; many relieved damage isn't worse

DAVIE, Fla. – Constantine Tagaras was not in his yellow catering van when it was hit by a tree.

Instead, he was hunkered down inside his Davie apartment. He only saw the result after Hurricane Irma had passed.

“I heard the tree just snap and then it hit the roof (of) the building off the balcony and then it landed on top of my truck,” Tagaras said. “If it was just a vehicle, then we’ll bear with it for now.”

The top of the van now has a large dent and its front windshield is smashed in. But the business with which the vehicle is affiliated, Potatopia, will be back open Wednesday.

Farther north, near Margate, the heavy equipment has been rolled out and crews have stayed busy removing and clearing away more downed trees.

The work is time consuming but necessary as people in the region breathe a sigh of relief with the storm’s passing.

"When they were talking about a (Category) 5, we were scared,” said Dana Aiello, who was seen Tuesday cleaning up after the hurricane. “We boarded up the house real quick. (It was) very fortunate that it went the direction that it did and (we’re) glad everybody is safe."

Just next door, a sign sits out front, reading “We survived Irma.”

It seems many people in the Tamarind Village development just sustained minimal damage.

However, not far away, another hazard was spotted on Lyons Road, just south of Sample.

Orange cones were seen blocking the northbound lanes, where downed trees made a portion of the block impassable. Mixed in with the downed debris, dangerous power lines also lined the road.

A transformer was tossed aside from the storm’s heavy winds.

Meanwhile, in Davie on Tuesday night, Tagaras was still working to dig out his work van.

“I did some work on it last night,” he said. “(I’m) just trying to get into the vehicle, but maintenance came through and they did a good job.”