Days after Hurricane Ian swept across Florida as a category 4 storm, Port Charlotte residents are recounting the storm, cleaning up, and counting their blessings.

"Getting gas for generator — that had to be the scariest thing in the world," resident Herman Gardner said.

"People are going through a lot, and they just have to keep the faith," said Al Mullen, who lives in a flooded community.

They have also switched to survival mode, as most parts of the area are without the basics: power, water and — for some — shelter.

Mullen anxiously drove home to see his house after the storm hit the area.

"I seen the first house that is tore almost in half and the first half was gone, and I think I felt my chin hit my ankles and my heart, of course, was below that because I didn't expect much," Mullen said.

Unexpectedly, his house and a few of his close neighbors' homes were still standing. It gave him the boost he needed to start helping others.

"It's the people in here that matter," Mullen said. "If you're still living, you can make whatever you need, help those in need, and that's how I felt."

Nearby in another section of town, Hurricane Ian caused more damage. One family recently put a brand new roof on their home; now 20 feet of it is missing. A neighbor's missing boat was found in their backyard.

Since the power is out, many are driving hours to grab gas. One Port Charlotte couple drove to Tampa and also got gas for several neighbors.

Pulling up to the pump can be costly and time-consuming, with one man waiting four hours to reach the pump.

Hundreds of thousands are still without power. The water is out, too.

"I just wish the infrastructure could hold up a little better," said Bonnie Schade, while getting gas for her generator. "The traffic lights, the power lines — I wish we had a better water system, but it's getting fixed again."

Still, residents remain hopeful their community will push through the hardship.

"The spirits will lift and so will the hazards, and we'll be here dragging aluminum until we're back to the beautiful community we started off at," Mullen said.

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In Towson, Maryland, there is a street called Dunkirk Road. There are 32 homes on Dunkirk, where families of various races, religions, and political views live. The neighbors are all close friends.

Related video above: Beautiful Christmas display set up in New Hampshire

So when Matt Riggs, who lives on the block with his wife Kerry, found out his neighbor across the street was struggling with depression in December of 2020, he decided to spread some holiday cheer. Riggs, who had been having a hard time himself during the pandemic, hung his Christmas lights early because he needed some joy. He managed to get one of the strands across the street, over a tree, and connected it to his neighbor's house.

Soon, house by house followed, connecting their lights until the entire block was lit. Riggs tells CNN they all did it again this year, with one neighbor making a metal sign by hand that reads "Love lives here."

An enlightened idea

"I was decorating for the holidays and I was a little bit early. It was actually before Thanksgiving, but it was such a dark time for all of us. I really didn't want to wait anymore," Riggs recalls of last season. "I wanted to go ahead and get things lit up. So, I was climbing the tree and running lights up in my tree and I wanted to see if I could get them to go across the street. And I was so excited when I did get them to go across the street and stay lit."

Riggs' neighbor Leaba Commisso was next.

"Once Matt did it, I talked to my across-the-street neighbor and I was like, 'Hey, let's do it too,'" she says. "It'll bookend the block, you'll drive through one light and then when you leave the block, you'll drive out of it. But it's a lot harder to hang those lights than one would imagine."

That's where Tom Desert came in. He's the handy neighbor who soon figured out how to rig one strand after another, making a canopy over the block and planting anchors in each lawn to hold the strands in place.

"Once there was a job to be done, Tom came out and he was helping us because it's really hard. They're heavy, those lights," Commisso says. "Tom was able to get our lights up and then we were like, everybody let's do it. "

She says a bunch of neighbors got in the car and "cleared out Home Depot."

A message of love

Neighbor Melissa DiMuzio, decided to add a nice touch. While binging shows on Netflix, she bent wire hangers into a sign that reads "Love lives here." She wrapped it in lights and Desert helped get that displayed too.

"I had missed out on actually hanging my own strand, and I really wanted to participate," DiMuzio tells CNN. "It was moving to see just like six or seven light strands going across the street. And so I made the sign."

DiMuzio polled neighbors on what the sign should say.

"That gave me permission to think outside of the happy holiday arena," she says. "The last one was love lives here, which is actually on a wooden plaque in my garage that my mom gave me."

Desert says it was a perfect fit.

"We have 32 homes on this block and despite the differences in opinions and beliefs, however you want to look at that, everybody here loves one another," he says. "I think that love lives here is explanatory of how it works on this block."

Commisso agrees.

"It is a very special place," she says "We parent everybody else's children around here."

This year, the block even added a big mailbox, where kids can leave their letters for Santa Claus to mail to the North Pole.

When everything comes down in January, Desert is in charge of that too.

"I might have to take a day off to take it down. At least the high ones," he says. "They are about 30 feet in the air on the highest peaks of the block."

The neighbor who Riggs was originally hoping to cheer up is doing better these days, he says. The collective light display has lifted everyone's spirits.

"We all suffer that from time to time," Riggs says. "This time last year she was in a dark place and I was too. I'd applied for and been offered three jobs and they were all rescinded because of COVID and I was just broken and defeated. I think anybody that needs a little light in their life, this would be a great neighborhood to go through."

CINCINNATI —

Citizens are fighting back against crime.

Many filled a meeting in Evanston on Monday evening to learn about ways they can stop it from taking over their streets.

Some said they are feeling empowered to start right now.

People form different neighborhoods joined police and city leaders to learn about what to watch for and what to do.

"We just want to make sure we have an idea of what to do when somebody suspicious comes in the neighborhood," neighbor Greg Turner said.

With more than 350 shootings and at least 79 homicides in Cincinnati, neighbors are ready to fight back against crime.

That includes Turner, who came looking for ways to protect his wife and neighbors.

"We live in a nice, quiet neighborhood, but right down the street it gets a little noisy, and there are things that I see on the news that happen there," Turner said.

City leaders and Cincinnati police helped a packed room of people in Evanston's Recreation Center figure out how they can start neighborhood watch groups in the face of rising crime.

Police encouraged people to mobilize and work with officers and their neighbors.

"We're seeing a tremendous uptick in certain areas of the city where the violence is increasing. One of the ways we can best combat that is to partner with the community. Start a neighborhood block watch where there's a general feeling in a neighborhood of somebody's got my back," Capt. Danita Pettis said.

Police told people to observe, take notes of people and cars, and call when serious or violent crimes happen.

They also covered scams and home security.

Now, neighbors are talking and plan to take action.

"We want our neighborhood to be safer and like I said, go back to the way that it was when we first moved there, and we want to make sure we have the tools to keep it that way," Turner said.

Cincinnati police said it's important neighbors be informed, alert and prepared.

Officers said the national average is about one officer for every 2,000 residents, but not all are patrolling the streets and may be assigned to other beats.

They said neighborhood watches reconnect people and empower conversations.

Cincinnati police said when issues arise, people can call the non-emergency line at 513-765-1212, or 911 in the event of an emergency.

Officers said it's always important people remain calm and state what type of crime is occurring along with details about the location, people involved and any vehicles, and elaborate if it is a serious crime or attack.

OMAHA, Neb. —

Sam Boje knows a thing or two about flags.

He noticed that the flag pole in his neighbor, Barbara Miller's yard hadn't flown a flag in a few years.

"The flag pole has really, basically for the last three years or so just been a flag pole there and I didn't know how to take it down or want to take it down," Miller said. "We've always had a flag there until he passed away four years ago...and I wasn't really wanting to mess with putting the flag up and down every day."

Taking matters into his own hands, Sam started to raise a flag for Miller every morning.

Sam's interest in flags really sparked when he started learning about them towards the end of his 5th-grade year. And that's when he started sharing what he learned with Miller.

While nothing can bring Russ back, Miller knows his memory will always be honored, all thanks to Sam.

"Russ would be so tickled that the flag is flying again because he just loved it," she said.

"If you know your neighbor, then you know someone that will help you out if something happens," Sam said.

Eventually, Sam said he wants to collect a flag from every country.

CINCINNATI —

It happened in a flash.

A 10-year-old boy is in critical condition after he ran out into the path of an oncoming car and was struck in Westwood Tuesday afternoon.

It happened around 2:30 p.m. in the 3200 block of Montana Avenue outside of a crosswalk.

He ran right into the path of a white Chrysler 200.

"The car saw him at the last minute and tried to stop real fast," the woman said.

She said she called 911 as the boy's brother carried him out of the street.

Investigators said the boy was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital with life-threatening injuries. He is currently listed in critical but stable condition.

Neighbors are hoping for the best.

Some were nearby as the boy ran into the path of a car outside of a crosswalk. They said there was nothing they could do.

"I was crying, screaming Jesus name. His mom was crying," a woman who did not want to be identified said.

That woman did not want to share her name or show her face in an interview, but the pain of the situation could be heard in her voice as she recounted a horrific crash steps from her porch.

"Quick as you can blink your eye, it happened fast. I had close my eyes because I knew he wasn't making it across that street, you know, I saw it and I just did like this and I heard it, 'boom' and then I opened my eyes and he was laying on the ground," she said.

The driver was visibly upset and police said he cooperated completely. Cincinnati police said he was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash and wasn't injured.

Excessive speed and impairment do not appear to be factors in the crash.

Neighbors said the area is packed with cars and kids.

"It's a rarity that kids run out in the street, but it's always busy. It's constantly with kids," neighbor Holly Kenerly said.

They said this scene is a reminder of the danger anytime anyone steps off of one of these curbs.

"Just be mindful. Be mindful of your surroundings. Kids, adults, drivers," Kenerly said.

We were unable to talk with any of the boy's family about how he is doing.

Neighbors said they are praying for all involved.

Anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to call the Cincinnati Police Department's Traffic Unit at 513-352-2514.

CHEVIOT, Ohio —

A car came flying through a Cheviot neighborhood launching through a yard and hitting a house before coming to a stop in a front yard.

Neighbors are still talking about it and joined the homeowners pushing for a change to make their street safer.

They came together to call for action at Cheviot City Hall, but the meeting, which got heated at some points, left them feeling less than heard.

Alyssa and Will Bryant believe the woman who hit their house was going 60 miles per hour or faster.

"I had seen two headlights coming in my direction and then a really big, loud sound that almost sounded like a bomb," Alyssa Bryant said.

It was enough to nearly stop her heartbeat.

A Ford Taurus wagon slammed into her and her husband's home on Applegate Avenue in Cheviot Sunday night.

"Literally, 'Bo Duke'd it' up here and hit my column, took out my handrails, rode the front step actually and, then, ended up in the yard right next to the magnolia tree," Will Bryant said.

They found twisted iron railing ripped off the house and brick columns damaged.

Shattered glass was sprinkled like glitter.

The driver, Lacey Wurster, 35, from Cleves, is charged with Operating a Vehicle while Intoxicated and Operation without Reasonable Control, according to a citation filed by Cheviot police.

The Bryants said hours earlier, their 3-year-old son was playing in the area where Wurster crashed.

"We made his slide over here into a little water slide. So, we actually had it positioned right where this crater is," Alyssa Bryant said.

The husband and wife came to Cheviot City Hall on Tuesday, joined by neighbors pushing for new safety measures.

"I constantly hear cars screeching their tires and honking at each other because they've almost hit each other while they're speeding down my street," Alyssa Bryant said.

Several council members said speed bumps are expensive and a liability.

The mayor said 50 to 60 streets in Cheviot want speed humps, but added that they're hard on garbage and emergency vehicles.

That infuriated neighbors who worried their children could become the next emergency.

A councilwoman said they also slow down response times.

"I'm hoping that they are hoping to look into other options, getting, if it's not speed bumps or speed humps, getting some kind of other alternative that is not just a quick fix and won't be temporary," Alyssa Bryant said following the meeting.

The charged driver told WLWT she was having a seizure when the crash occurred and had only had one margarita that day.

She said the medication in her car was for her seizures and said she will not be driving.

Wurster also said she did not cause damage and that she is sorry for what has happened.

Cheviot's mayor said police will clearly run a radar sign on the street indicating the speed limit and the speed of the approaching car.

Neighbors said they still left feeling less than impressed with city leaders.

A streets and sidewalks committee will have a special meeting about the concerns on Applegate Avenue.

The public meeting is set for June 1, following the city council meeting.