ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. — It should have been a happy homecoming for Shelby Lovell after weeks spent mostly away from his Zephyrhills home.
When he returned home, the only thing on his mind should have been hugs and kisses from his wife and two boys, ages 12 and 1.
Instead, when he returned to his home on Hazelwood Drive, he found his home still surrounded by and inundated with flood water almost two weeks after Hurricane Milton.
“I would assess it as a total loss,” he said.
Why was Lovell away during and after Milton? He’s among the many selfless linemen who helped restore power to Tampa Bay homes.
“I’ve put in a lot of time over the past four weeks. I won’t disclose how long I did, but it’s a lot more than people would imagine,” he said.
Already tired from that, now, he’s facing a new level of exhaustion, and he feels he and his neighbors are not getting help from government officials.
“No. We are not,” he said. “We are put at the bottom of the totem pole, as it seems.”
He and seven other neighbors who flooded live in an area of Zephyrhills that’s been plagued by drainage issues lately — issues Lovell’s wife, Becky, believes are being exacerbated by rapid development in the area.
“It’s heartbreaking that everything we have worked for is gone,” she said through tears.
The issues are making her husband’s homecoming very bittersweet.
ABC Action News contacted Pasco County about the problem in the neighborhood. A spokesperson said Public Works will visit the neighborhood with pumps to help alleviate the current flooding.
"It doesn't make any sense."
FEMA guidelines for debris removal do not include condos or condominiums because they are considered commercial enterprises. A public information officer for the City of Clearwater told ABC Action News, "We are not removing debris from condos; we do consider them commercial."
