GULFPORT, Fla. — Marie Lamarre is quick to point out how fortunate she is.
“Extremely lucky,” she said. “Unbelievably.”
During Hurricane Helene, her home did not flood, but hundreds of her neighbors in Gulfport weren’t so lucky.
Their homes flooded. And what’s worse, they’re still waiting to repair them.
“It shouldn’t have taken more than, you know, a couple of months to get everything repaired, and instead, they’re all living in limbo,” said Lamarre.
Because the city participates in the National Flood Insurance Program, it must comply with FEMA’s 50% rule. To do so, it must determine which homes and businesses in Gulfport are substantially damaged. If a structure is substantially damaged, it must be demolished, elevated, or relocated.
So far, the city has determined that 224 structures are substantially damaged, and 235 structures were found to be below the threshold of substantial damage.
However, more than 200 structures are still waiting for a determination, which means those homeowners are still in limbo.
“And people’s lives are on hold. People are spending thousands of dollars a month to live elsewhere, or they have, you know, kind of started just camping out in their damaged homes because until we get these letters, people cannot fix their homes,” Lamarre said.
In an interview on Monday, Justin Shea with the City of Gulfport said progress is being made, and the final letters will soon be sent out.
However, Shea said the process is taking time because the city has been correcting inaccurate data and mistakes in some of the assessments, which were provided to the city by a third-party company, Tidal Basin.
“We are finding some inaccuracies in the reporting on the initial damage assessments,” he said.
Shea is encouraging homeowners to start applying for permits anyway. No matter what their letters say, they can get the permits they need if they prove their homes are not substantially damaged.
“When you document each room — what’s being done in each room — go above and beyond, so the reviewers can see the big picture,” he said. “The more detail at the front end is going to help on the back end, so put as much detail as possible on your scope, on your cost allocations, document every dollar going into that house to put the home to pre-storm condition.”
Still, it’s a slow process, and one causing some of Lamarre’s neighbors to walk away and sell their homes.
“There’s not light at the end of the tunnel for them — at all,” she said.
If you have questions about the recovery in Gulfport, you can attend a town hall meeting this Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Catherine Hickman Theater at 5501 27th Ave. South. The city would like questions submitted online ahead of the meeting.
To learn more, click here.
In less than two months, more than 100 people have contacted the ABC Action News I-Team, saying they are stuck waiting on unemployment benefits and are growing more desperate by the day.
