ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — It has been one year since Hurricane Ian made its true impact on the First Coast. Ian made landfall in southwest Florida on September 28th, but flood waters from Ian began to rise in Davis Shores on September 29th.
Since that time nearly $9 billion in federal assistance has been distributed across the state with more than $1 billion going to residents of St. Johns County. Many of those residents are still getting back on their feet one year after the storm.
Images of ripped out walls and debris no longer line the streets in Davis Shores. Instead, 'for sale' signs are one of the most common images.
Exactly one year ago Dolphin Drive and Coquina Avenue were completely underwater as flood waters from Hurricane Ian ravaged St. Augustine. 365 days later a simple high tide and a full moon have flooded the streets again.
Regardless of flood waters, it's business as usual for Matthew Verostek, who owns Matrix LLC and does painting and carpentry repairs. The last year was the busiest year ever for his company.
"It's been good for my business," said Verostek, "but it's been hard on the homeowners and they constantly have to redo stuff and you have the water damage, it's a constant battle."
John Madalon moved to the area shortly before Ian hit and lives right along the water. Fortunately his house is slightly elevated.
"You can see up and down the street that there's renovation after renovation and new houses being built," said Madalon, "I do feel for those who have their house at lower elevation and thankfully there's FEMA to help raise their house up."
Deanna Ray has lived along the water since 1999, but she had private market flood insurance and didn't qualify to apply for FEMA to raise her house. She took flood mitigation into her own hands.
"There was a triple slider here, took that out, cinder blocked it up and put a window that was higher than any flooding we ever had," said Ray, "I've thought about moving, but who wants to give up this nice intracoastal waterway."
A number of other residents feel the same way and flooding isn't going to stop them from living their life.
One year later, the state and dozens of communities continue recovery operations with the support of federal partners, the private sector and voluntary organizations.
To date, federal support totals $8.69 billion, including:
- FEMA provided $1.13 billion in grants to more than 386,000 households in 26 counties.
- The U.S. Small Business Administration approved $1.94 billion in disaster loans for homeowners, renters and businesses.
- The National Flood Insurance Program paid $4.38 billion for more than 47,300 claims filed.
- FEMA obligated more than $1.26 billion to reimburse state and local applicants for emergency response, debris removal and repair or replacement of public facilities.
Specifically regarding St Johns County, these funds have been approved as of 9/20/23 for Individual Assistance from FEMA:
- Individuals and Households Program - $1,134,621,258.95
- Housing Assistance - $768,085,695.58
- Other Needs Assistance - $366,535,563.37
- Disaster Unemployment Assistance - $535,638.00
The following are loans made by the Small Business Administration (SBA):
- Homes - $1,528,243,600
- Business - $406,640,700
More information about FEMA assistance can be found here: https://www.fema.gov/assistance/individual.