Hurricane Yang aftermath: 83-year-old veteran joins Florida’s new homeless

Saint James City, Florida – Hurricane Yan destroyed more than 5,000 homes in southwest Florida and damaged nearly 30,000 more in late September. Four months later, a new generation of homeless Americans emerge in Lee County.

“People are on the streets here. They just live in inequality,” said Robert McCall, an 83-year-old veteran who is currently homeless in Lee County. “Up to this point, they took care of themselves, but then they are in for a big disappointment, and this is a hell of a close end to their lives.”

Robert McCall became homeless for the first time in his life. Hurricane Yan devastated a veteran’s home as a Category 4 hurricane struck southwest Florida with a record storm surge.

“My wife is 85, I’m 83. I wasn’t going to go out and buy a hotel or motel or anything until we knew where we were with our insurance because I didn’t want to spend a lot of money and find out they weren’t going to to pay. So we slept in our car for 36 days,” McCall said.

Four months after Hurricane Ian, some homeowners are still living in tents on Pine Island. (Fox News)

The family is currently waiting for the insurance receipt before deciding on their next steps. They sleep between cars, tents, and a donated home on Pine Island.

“Every time we called the insurance company… they didn’t even give us our claim number, who we were or anything like that. They said we’d just have to wait,” McCall said. “This is not the country I grew up in. I think the insurance companies have let everyone down because everyone is, of course, waiting for the money to see where it is or to be able to use it for something. be here right now if we got it in a timely manner They’re going to say they’re overwhelmed and all, but these storms and these disasters have been going on for years and there’s no reason our federal government and these insurance companies couldn’t respond in a timely manner “.

Beacon of Hope, a non-profit organization in Lee County, is counting how many residents have been left homeless by the storm. Preliminary estimates show that hundreds of former homeowners are now living in tents or their cars, and countless others are living in moldy homes that have already been doomed.

“They immediately promised me a FEMA trailer four months ago or so,” said Nicole Williams, a Pine Island resident. “They still don’t have a schedule for me and they haven’t responded to constant rental assistance, so I’m forced to live in an abandoned house.”

City of Naples, Florida, during Hurricane Jan, September 28, 2022. The streets are flooded, the wind shakes the trees strongly. (city of Naples)

Nicole Williams returned to her home on Pine Island, despite the fact that the house was covered in mold. Willams sat on the couch and stayed with friends for months, waiting for the FEMA trailer to arrive, but the trailer never arrived.

“I broke down mentally so many times that you can’t even imagine. Like I said, I’ve been insanely blessed otherwise I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my friends, but I’d be living on your friend’s couch or in his spare laundry room. wear on you. These blessings will be worn upon you and all you want to do is go home and have a home and have this peace and serenity and this refuge. It should be yours,” Williams said in an emotional interview outside her home. “I really think our federal government should be held accountable for hurting its people by not doing its job in a timely manner.”

Hurricane Yang damaged tens of thousands of homes in Lee County. Volunteers believe the housing crisis in southwest Florida is far from over.

“A lot of people need help. There are people who have fallen out of the rut, their basic needs are still not being met, ”said Dana Dodson, director of CPE – Project Hope. “What we’re trying to do is bring awareness to this and bring in other outside agencies and support us, especially here in Pine Island.”

HURRICANE IAN VICTIMS ARE RETURNING TO DESTROYED HOUSES AS DEATH CONTINUES TO GROW

Dana Dodson is the Director and Project Manager of CPE – Project Hope. The organization provides mental health services to victims of Hurricane Yang as part of disaster recovery. Dodson serves some of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Yang: Lee, Hendry, Glades, and Collier counties. The project manager also knows personally how many families in southwest Florida were affected by Hurricane Ian.

“My personal experience… I actually came from Pennsylvania, I came here to provide disaster relief. Both the locals and the volunteers who come here have nowhere to live. So I live in my car. I spend time with friends I met here in their homes couchsurfing, I also slept in tents. I mostly slept where it was safe,” Dodson said. “There’s limited access to housing.”

Dodson believes part of the solution is outreach to ensure Lee County is not forgotten during the lengthy recovery process.

“I think what we are really looking for is to draw attention to this area. I think people are not aware of the destruction that is still there. Many people realize that there are still people who have nowhere to live. still people without basic needs. There are still people without electricity on the islands and even in Fort Myers,” Dodson said.

FEMA CHAPTER PROTECTS FLORIDA COUNTY FROM HURRICANE FLORIDA OFFICIALS IAN PREP: STORM WAS ‘VERY UNPREDICTABLE’:

Drone video captures extensive damage at Ft. Myers a few days after Hurricane Yan made landfall. (Fox News)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has received more than 911,000 county-specific applications from survivors of Hurricane Yan in Florida. Of these, 378,000 received assistance through the FEMA Individual and Household Program. A FEMA spokesperson told Fox News that the remaining claimants may still be waiting for insurance payments, are in the process of submitting additional documentation, or may be referred to another organization for help with their needs, such as our partners at the Small Business Administration or US Department of Agriculture.

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Four months later, FEMA is still working on moving travel trailers to southwest Florida for eligible families. To date, 226 households have been licensed to operate trailers (101), mobile homes (71) or direct rentals (54). An additional 299 campers and mobile homes are being prepared for occupancy, and on-site inspections are underway for additional units.

“Following the immediate response to Hurricane Ian, one of FEMA’s top priorities is to provide temporary housing to applicants who are unable to live in their homes due to Hurricane Ian damage,” the agency said in a statement. “FEMA has provided funds to nearly 68,000 Hurricane Yang-affected households to help rent or refurbish their storm-damaged homes. 333 units. FEMA is in the process of identifying applicants based on the location of their damaged housing and household composition for potential apartments within a reasonable distance of work.”