County Commission hears latest storm recovery stats

Pinellas County Commissioners, one after the other, expressed frustration with the speed – or lack of it – of hurricane recovery efforts, both in cities and in unincorporated parts of the county, during Tuesday afternoon’s meeting.

After County Administrator Barry Burton attempted to explain the intricacies of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Substantial Damage Assessment strategy – saying there were parts that even he didn’t understand – Commissioner Janet Long figuratively threw her hands in the air.

“I hear you, and I’m not trying to be argumentative, I promise you,” she told Burton. “It’s very easy for me to put myself in the shoes of some of these folks who’ve lost everything. And when you say it’s going to take time – many of them have already found transitional housing, but they have to be able to have some kind of time frame to work in, in order to even have a discussion about how long they’re going to be in transitional housing.

“What does that look like, versus ‘I’m trying to re-build my home, and I have a mortgage on the home that just got destroyed.’ I mean, it’s mind boggling.”

READ MORE: Pinellas County faces a ‘monumental’ rebuilding process

While some 80 FEMA inspectors have been dispatched to Pinellas, Burton said earlier issued a proviso to homeowners: “The one message to people is: You need to have a permit. You need to have a permit. It’s a FEMA requirement for local jurisdictions to enforce their rules. If you’re in a jurisdiction, please contact them before doing work.”

Response and Recovery Operations Manager Joe Borries told commissioners that 180 people remained in church shelters, their homes destroyed by Hurricane  Helene Sept. 26, or Hurricane Milton two weeks later.

Commissioner Rene Flowers asked about several things: How many of those in shelters, for example, are seniors? “We’re getting the calls, but we don’t have the answers for individuals, and that’s not calming, I understand that, when they reach out to us.”

Commissioner Chris Latvala wondered if the previously-announced 90-day window for debris removal was still valid. “We have communities right now that are in limbo,” said Commissioner Dave Eggers.

“This Substantial Damage process is probably the long-tern issue that we’re dealing with,” he added. “It’s going to blow the debris removal process away.”

The discussion began with Borries’ report. As of Oct. 29:

Combined hurricane damage assessment: 720 destroyed homes and 18,967 with major damages;

1,041 business impacted with both physical and economic damages, totaling $1.2 billion in damages;

238,145 FEMA applications received;

FEMA appropriations already distributed: Helene $300 million; Milton $153 million;

135,000 cubic yards of debris collected from unincorporated areas (cities are coordinating their own residents’ collection);

Beach sand removal, cleaning at redistribution is underway. Passs-a-Grille sand removal 99 percent complete;

Army Corps of Engineers has received nearly 900 applications for “blue roof” coverings;

Many hotels and motels still reporting “tourist season” level occupancy;

Seven regional parks are still closed and under repair.

Debris cleanup, Burton reported, “will continue until we get it cleaned up. But it is going to take time. There’s a finite amount of resources; these have to be FEMA-certified contractors. We can’t just go out and hire a bunch of contractors. But they will get there. And that’s no different than any storm that’s ever hit Florida.”