Matlacha woman's Hurricane Ian dock finally removed after WINK steps in

MATLACHA, Fla. (WINK) — A WINK News viewer stepped in to solve a four-year-old problem left behind by Hurricane Ian.

Leah Gregg had been dealing with a sunken dock in her canal since the storm. The dock floated down during Ian and sank, where it remained despite her repeated calls for help.

"So now I'm stuck, and here we are in hurricane season, and this massive dock is still in the canal, and it will cause damage if it's not taken out of there, and cause additional flooding that's really unnecessary," Gregg said.

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She thought the debris would be removed during post-hurricane cleanup efforts. "I just thought, with the cleanup that we had going on, that it would be cleaned out," Gregg said.

After WINK News covered her story at WINK Listens, help arrived. Mark Penna, who owns Morton and Penna, a land clearing company, saw the story and decided to take action.

"Wink called to action, and I seen it, and I was like, 'Let me go help this woman out. You know, we own a couple businesses on the island, and I'm about giving back to our community. Matlacha took a real bad beating back-to-back, and she seemed like she needed some help. So, let's just get it done,'" Penna said.

Penna's crew removed the dock piece by piece in about an hour, including cleanup. "I actually have goosebumps that this is working out," Gregg said.

Penna said community service is something he values and teaches. "And I try to teach my Cub Scouts that I teach, give to the community because the community is always going to give back to you," Penna said.

Gregg had been trying to get the dock removed for three years. "The only folks that helped was the media, specifically Wink News," Gregg said.

"So, it's just amazing what Wink Listens does for all of us in the community that need help," Gregg said.