MATLACHA, Fla. — Idalia is no Hurricane Ian, but it was enough to make a lot of people on Matlacha nervous.

Matlacha is typically a paradise. That is until hurricanes or tropical storms start to threaten homes along these canals.

“The water coming up… we were all worried about the water,” Artie Nolan said. He lives off of Island Avenue.

That is the main concern residents have each time they prepare for storms.

Matlacha neighbors living along canals have finally started to see the water recede. And with that subsiding, they can start the cleanup process once again.

“This section of Island Avenue apparently is the lowest point on the island,” Mike Zuazu said.

Residents like Zuazu learned you cannot control where the storm surge goes. He saw that firsthand 11 months ago when Hurricane Ian made landfall.

“We flooded completely, we lost the back wall through Ian,” he said.

He had just finished repairs when Idalia came knocking at his door late Tuesday night.

“With this storm and the tides, we literally had water coming up against the house,” he said.

He woke up at 3 in the morning to storm surge making its way into his home. He found the leaks quickly and initially stopped the flooding.

“I got the water out, it dried out and I thought it was ok, and then the tide came back up and flooded the house yet again,” Zuazu said.

And now he is back to cleaning up his little paradise.

“If it happens a third time I don’t know if I can stay. I have been on the islands for 20 years — Bokeelia, and now here this is supposed to be paradise… two years in a row. It’s just hard,” he said.

All Matlacha residents are just asking for one thing, can the storms stop coming to their island.

“God please give us a little break for a while, one after another is just not good,” Nolan said.