Keys couple found living in crushed mobile home after Hurricane Irma

Jerry, Joy say they've been sleeping there ever since Irma pummeled Keys

STOCK ISLAND, Fla. – As residents returned to the lower Keys for the first time since Hurricane Irma, life was slowly but surely returning to normal in Key West.

There were signs of life Sunday night on Duval Street in Key West, where business owners and locals who sling the cocktails were gathered.

"You can't let a storm beat you down," a man told Local 10 News outside Sloppy Joe's Bar.

Earlier in the day on Stock Island, it was discovered that the little that some people had there is now gone.

As Local 10 News reporter Janine Stanwood was about to leave the Island Life Village trailer park, she was told by residents that two people were living inside a crushed home that appeared to be abandoned.

"We looked through the door and there's somebody inside," a resident told Stanwood.

"Oh, my gosh. Hello?" Stanwood said to a woman sitting in the mangled mess. "Hi. How are you?"

The woman, identified only as Joy, had bandages on her arms. They were for her sunburn.

She said she and Jerry came back after Irma and have been sleeping there ever since.

Joy and Jerry were found living in a crushed mobile home on Stock Island after Hurricane Irma.

"We've been here for five, six days," Jerry said.

Stanwood asked if anyone has come to help them.

"Oh, yeah. There's been all kinds of people," Jerry said. "The owners of the park haven't been around."

An organization called Caring for the Keys was handing out the last load of water and supplies.

"We have a car, so we can get around," Jerry said.

For Jerry and Joy, they said they'll pick up ice and insist that they're fine, for now.


About the Authors:

Janine Stanwood joined Local 10 News in February 2004 as an assignment editor. She is now a general assignment reporter. Before moving to South Florida from her Washington home, Janine was the senior legislative correspondent for a United States senator on Capitol Hill.