(The Center Square) — Recovery efforts continue from multiple hurricanes that made landfall in Florida in the last two years.
The Florida House Select Committee on Hurricane Resiliency & Recovery met this week to discuss the ongoing recovery efforts in the Sunshine State.
The committee heard Monday from the Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Kevin Guthrie, who began his presentation with an update about Florida’s most recent storm.
Hurricane Idalia hit the Big Bend region in late August, making landfall in Taylor County and was the first large storm to hit the area in more than a century. Storm surge wiped out coastal homes and winds sent trees ripping through power lines, cutting electricity to over 300,000 homes and businesses.
According to Guthrie in the wake of Idalia, FDEM mobilized food, tarps, and generators. The division provided over 220,000 meals, more than 150,000 bottles of water, and over 3,000 tarps to storm-affected residents. Around 90% of all utilities were restored within three days.
FDEM has prioritized ongoing recovery and has earmarked $202 million in funding. Guthrie pointed out that the division was able to help in so many ways, thanks to state lawmakers, noting that the money provided by the state is going directly back to affected communities.
“The division would not be successful at that without the legislature and governor’s investment in our division over the last two years in technology,” Guthrie said, adding that an additional investment of over $3 million in recent months has enhanced that.
Non-profit organizations such as The Salvation Army, Red Cross, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief and Team Rubicon work within communities and are highly involved in recovery efforts.
Hurricane Ian was a high-end Category 4 storm that caused a 1,000-year flood event, historic storm surge and historic coastal erosion on the east coast of Florida. A massive state recovery effort was required because, unlike Idalia, Ian impacted millions across the state.
Post Ian, around 1,000 state-owned travel trailers were used as temporary accommodation while repairs were made to damaged homes. According to Guthrie, 843 homes have now been fully rehabbed, and the division continues to work towards completing this.
The recovery from Hurricane Nicole — which made landfall in Vero Beach and later Cedar Key after a brief reemergence in the Gulf of Mexico in Oct. 2022 — is expected to take longer, simply because it involves replenishing beaches, coastal reinforcement and long-term infrastructure issues, likely taking around five years to complete.
