MIAMI – The focus in the towns of Broward County shifts from saving lives to getting back on your feet.
In Fort Lauderdale, the city’s Fire Rescue is doing more to check on damaged homes so that storm victims can get help with money as soon as possible.
“And we said, ‘Okay, how can we get that information up the chain as quickly as possible so that FEMA can get the help here as quickly as possible?'” said Pingol.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue is where Garret Pingol works. As part of his job, he takes us on a car tour of Edgewood, one of the hardest-hit parts of the city, so we can see how bad the damage is.
The department is in charge of a city-wide attempt to check on houses that were flooded and had valuable things destroyed and left on the streets.
“One problem we’ve seen is that this wasn’t caused by a hurricane,” Pingol said. “The water is clean, but it doesn’t move. These houses don’t make it easy to see where the water lines are.
They go from house to house to look at the damage. So far, city officials have found that at least 18 inches of water were in about 400 homes in the city. And they keep a file with information about each home inspected to make the process faster for people who need financial help from FEMA if and when it comes.
Pingol said, “We’ll take pictures and write them down.” “It goes into our application, which sends it to the state and FEMA along with a GPS location.”
If you need someone to look at your house, the city wants you to call 954-828-8000.
Local governments and the state work quickly to check all homes to help people who don’t have flood insurance or don’t have enough of it.
Last week, there was water in Lauder Lakes Mobile Home Community. Resident Timothy Devine thinks about what he has done.
“Scared…Fear,” Devine said. “If you’ve never been through this, you can’t even imagine.”
As we drove through a neighborhood, we saw that people were still having trouble with high water. A “No Wake” sign in the middle of the road told people in Lauder Lakes that they needed help.
Devine explained why. The siding on his house fell. When he gets inside, he shows more damage.
Devine said, “That’s all mush,” and he knocked on the damaged wall. His tools were also gone.
“The water got into my central air and took it away,” Devine said. “My heater for hot water. Since Wednesday, I haven’t taken a shower.
He needs help to fix and change things. If not, he might have to let the house go for nothing.
“I just rely on my faith,” Devine said.
Devine does not have protection against floods. It’s why the whole city is working to figure out how bad the damage is to all the houses.
Finding 400 to 500 homes in Broward County that had 30-36 inches of water come into them was the fastest way to get money from FEMA.
“I’ve done this kind of work in the field,” Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said.
“I say 30-36 inches because I’ve never had to bargain over a watermark that size.”
He’s hopeful. FEMA will be there to help.
“Once we get the damage assessment and FEMA agrees, and they give us what is called an Individual Assistance Declaration, then everyone in the affected area will be able to apply,” Guthrie said. “Then a FEMA inspector will come to look at their specific damage and figure out what they are eligible for.”
He says that FEMA would help people who live below or above the 30-inch watermark. Don’t let the amount of water damage in your home stop you from having it checked out.
Guthrie tells everyone to call their local Emergency Operations Center if they want to know how much damage rains and storms have done to their homes. Guthrie adds that people who don’t have flood insurance or don’t have enough insurance can get help from FEMA.
