TAMPA, Fla. (WFTS) — Lashelle Liptrot's Nissan Murano is more than a mode of transportation. It's been the shelter keeping her and her children safe.
"Hurricane Milton came, we lost our home," she said. "We thought we were just going to get some help to replace things that were damaged, but they [FEMA] determined that our unit was no longer fit to live in. I didn't see that coming."
FEMA gave them money to go to one of the approved motels housing hurricane victims.
"It wasn't long before we ran out of money," she said.
On Dec. 6, Liptrot had to turn their car into a home for her and her children.
"I'm just a regular person. I'm not a drug addict, I'm not a felon, I'm not a criminal. I just lost my home because of the hurricane," she said.
Liptrot's story isn't a one-off.
She's part of the countless number of people now homeless because of Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Johara Gemma is in the same boat. Her home in Seffner flooded during Milton.
"I'm still waiting for FEMA to give me money for my home and everything that I had to replace because my home went underwater. Literally underwater," she said.
She's been in her truck since the storm.
"It's been my truck the whole time because every time I called all the hotels on the list, the people there either hang up on me or tell me that they're full. So I'm just exhausted, really of this, I just, I've never been in this situation, so, you know, losing everything," Gemma said.
She said she can't make any moves until she hears from FEMA. In the meantime, she is racking up debt, trying to remain afloat.
"I am angry. I'm frustrated. Because I'm homeless, and I've never been homeless in my life. The fact that FEMA is forcing me into homelessness."
That's why she decided to reach out to ABC Action News.
"I am trying to get the word out there for people to know that this is still happening. Because right now, everybody's busy focusing on what's happening in LA," she said. "But you all need to remember what is happening right here in Florida that nobody's talking about it, nobody's doing anything. It is just being shoved under the rug, and I'm trying to reach out to the Congress people, to the Senators, and still, nothing has happened. So I don't know what else to do, really."
We found out about Liptrot through a post on Nextdoor.
"It just hurts me to see like because the same people in the community that we see every day, their whole attitude towards us changed, and that's what hurt," she said.
She's also noticed there are limited places she's able to park her car.
That's because of a recent Florida law that went into effect Oct. 1, just days before the hurricanes hit.
It prohibits camping or sleeping in public places except during specified emergencies.
Starting this month, any citizen or business can sue municipalities if they feel the law isn't being properly enforced.
"They're trying to combat the drug addicts and, you know, the alcoholics, and I get it. So, you know, I kind of am for it. I get that. But I just felt like, you know, I think he should come at it with his whole heart, you know, not just thinking of, just get them off the streets, but let's get them somewhere to go," Liptrot said.
She has a petition going on now to change the law.
As FEMA sorts through their list of people in need, both of these women are left waiting from the only place they have to call home: their cars.
"Why are you not giving us our money back? You owe it to us — just pay us.”
After waiting over eight months for a refund from a medical clinic, an ABC Action News viewer reached out to consumer investigative reporter Susan El-Khoury for help.
