FEMA not ready to deploy trailers for temporary housing yet in Collier County

FEMA trailers aren't heading this way to house local residents displaced by Hurricane Ian.

At least, not yet.

That's because the state must order it, which hasn't happened, said Sam Harvey, an individual assistance group supervisor for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

He explained the sticky situation at a town hall hosted by Collier County on Wednesday night focused on critical housing concerns.

The state, he said, is still formulating a longer-term plan to deal with the need for temporary housing.

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"An answer hasn't been landed on yet," Harvey said.

The goal, he said, is to "move forward in a holistic and equitable way."

FEMA trailers are not meant to be an immediate solution, and they're not the only solution to provide needed shelter, Harvey emphasized.

Several outspoken residents who attended the town hall in county commission chambers criticized the drawn-out process.

FEMA should have lined up trailers like power companies do linemen so it could respond quickly to the need for housing post-Ian, said Jackie Keay, a community advocate.

The lack of an emergency plan, she said, has forced some residents to stay in homes that have already become mold-infested due to major flooding — because they don't have anywhere else to go.

"This is unexcusable," Keay said.

Other temporary housing options, such as finding a hotel room or temporary rental, she said, aren't easy and are costly given the high demand not only from displaced residents but by disaster responders in the county.

"You are not doing your job. This is to all leaders," Keay said.

Elizabeth Radi, a representative for the Collier County Tenants Union, agreed.

"We need trailers. We need trailer cities, and we need them fast," she said.

Otherwise, Radi said, the county will continue to lose workers, a trend that began long before Ian hit, due to a severe shortage of affordable housing.

FEMA offers financial help to rebuild

On a brighter note, Harvey discussed ways residents with property damage can get financial help now for costs and expenses not covered by insurance, including rental assistance. The first step is to register online at disasterassistance.gov, through the FEMA app, or by calling 800-621-3362.

Anyone with uncovered property damages or repair costs tied to Ian should register, he said, even if they're much better off than neighbors who've lost almost everything.

"I would encourage you to ask yourself, 'Did you pay your taxes last year,'" Harvey said. "If your answer is yes, then this is your money."

For those who qualify, FEMA can provide individual assistance of up to $37,900 for home repairs and just as much for lost property, including everything from couches to cars. He stressed those are the maximum amounts with every case evaluated based on its own merits.

Residents and other property owners with insurance should file claims with their providers as soon as possible, including home, flood and auto, before seeking help from FEMA.

FEMA can help fill in the gaps, but its programs aren't designed to make hurricane victims whole again, Harvey said.

"It's always a challenge. If it was up to me, I would raise the limit," he said.

Some property owners expressed frustration that FEMA couldn't offer more help.

That included owners of second homes, who learned they aren't eligible for any federal help, unless they rented — or loaned out — their residences to others for at least part of the year.

"I wish I had a better answer on that front," Harvey said.

So did Denise Demmink, whose second home in the Riverbend mobile home park in North Naples got flooded with more than 5 feet of water, causing major damage after a recent renovation.

"It's like my loss should matter too," she said.

Her community doesn't allow vacation rentals, and her flood policy is limited because she owns a manufactured home, so she said she feels she's getting unfairly penalized.

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FEMA's 50% rule draws concern

Several residents asked about FEMA's so-called 50% rule, which requires structures with substantial damage — or damage exceeding 50% of their market value — to meet the same requirements as new construction. Older homes or buildings would have to be elevated, which could not only be time-consuming but too costly for some to afford.

Harvey deferred specific questions about the enforcement of the flood protection building rules to the county. Jamie French, deputy department head for growth management and a floodplain administrator, said the county uses a specific methodology to determine whether there's substantial damage, based on local, state and federal rules.

"There is not a lot of leeway," he said.

Some residents complained about the process for applying and receiving aid from FEMA, including one who said he's not sure why his application shows up as "pending" with no explanation for the hold-up.

Harvey asked for patience and encouraged determination, saying FEMA is sending additional representatives to get more applications for assistance processed — and get more applicants to "yes."

"I understand that this is frustrating," he said. "I do this every day and there is still things that I'm learning about the process."

Ashley Jones, director of social services and emergency disaster services at the Salvation Army of Collier County, said FEMA isn't doing enough to help hard-hit residents living farther from the coast, in such areas as Everglades City and Chokoloskee.

Many of them, she said, have not sought critical needs assistance because they didn't know it was available and now it's too late. The program that offered a one-time payment of $700 per household expired Thursday.

She asked for "boots on the ground" in the more remote areas where power and internet outages have made it difficult for residents to stay informed and seek help.

"We need disaster case management," Jones said. "Our families do not know how to navigate the FEMA process, the SBA (Small Business Administration)."

The deadline to apply for other FEMA assistance is Nov. 28. After registering, the next step is to meet with a FEMA inspector to go over damages.

Property owners need not wait for an inspector to arrive to start clean-up and repair work, Harvey said.

SBA offers loans for homeowners and renters, not just businesses

At the Town Hall, Terrell Perry, a public affairs specialist with the SBA, shared the many ways her agency can help not just businesses but homeowners and renters recover from Ian through low-interest loans.

FEMA automatically refers its registrants to SBA for additional help.

Through the SBA, homeowners may apply for up to $200,000 to replace or repair their primary residence.

Additionally, renters and homeowners can borrow up to $40,000 to replace personal property, including clothes, furniture, cars and appliances.

"We do offer a full gamut of loans to fit any person or circumstance," Perry said. "We also have mitigation loans to guard against the next time."

Those mitigation loans can help residents pay for hurricane shutters or elevating homes, for example, before the next storm hits.

"We do urge you to consider mitigation in your rebuilding plans," Perry said.

With a long-term, low-interest loan from the SBA, she said a homeowner could pay $45 a month for a $10,000 hurricane mitigation project.

Property owners hit with a large deductible for Ian repairs can also get an SBA loan to spread out the cost, and loans can be used to pay for other items insurance doesn't cover, from the landscaping removal to fence replacement, Perry said.

Interest rates on SBA loans for homeowners and renters are as low as 2.2%.

"It's the cheapest money you can find," Perry said.

To date, she said, SBA has received more than 320,000 referrals from FEMA for assistance to help residents, renters, businesses and nonprofits hurt by Ian in all of the eligible counties.

However, only 15,000 loan applications have been received, with 585 loans approved, valued at about $31 million. It's important to close that gap "as much as possible" so homeowners and renters, in particular, can go forward with the recovery, Perry said.

After the presentation she said: "Generally, loans are not the first thing on people's minds when they are affected by a disaster. They may think of a loan as an obligation, however, SBA and by that I mean the federal government would like the opportunity to offer loans to people who were affected by the disaster, in an effort to spur and encourage recovery," allowing them to rebuild more quickly.

Applicants who can't qualify for SBA loans are routed back to FEMA, which may be able to provide other needs assistance.

Many homeowners with flood insurance didn't have coverage for contents in homes

Russell Tinsley, a representative for the National Flood Insurance Program, said in Collier County alone, more than 5,800 policyholders have filed claims, with $6 million in advances paid out.

"Even one claim has been settled and paid, which is always good news for the adjuster," he said, "because the adjuster doesn't get paid until the claim is settled."

Unfortunately, Tinsley said, he's seen many claims by homeowners who had flood coverage for their homes but not for their home's contents, so they've been referred to FEMA for help.

He shared that more than 95% of national flood insurance policies are for residential properties but that they also can cover condominiums and businesses.

"We caution all of our policyholders to be very careful about hiring companies that want to come in and tear everything out, when that might not be necessary, or be in the best interest of the policyholder," Tinsley said.

Commenting briefly at the town hall, incoming Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, said she understood local residents' tragedy as she had 4 feet of water in her own home from Ian.

She pledged to do what she could to address the need for temporary housing, including taking the necessary steps to allow FEMA to send trailers to Collier.

Passidomo urged the county commission and Naples City Council to relax their zoning rules to allow people to put motor homes on their property while they rebuild.

In response, Collier Commissioner Burt Saunders said the county had already done so.

While a permit is still required, there’s no fee to obtain one, and county staff has assured it can be issued quickly, he noted.

"It's just a way for the county to keep some control over that," Saunders said. "To make sure that the property owner that's lost their housing in the storm is the one that's occupying the trailers and the travel units on the property."

In Collier, homeowners and renters with pressing concerns can visit the Disaster Recovery Center at Veterans Community Park for help.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Hurricane Ian: FEMA town hall addresses housing concerns, aid