MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. — No one should ever live in the conditions Susan Malik and her husband are living in currently
“People don’t think we should even be here, and probably not,” Malik admitted Monday.
But they don’t have a choice.
“You have to laugh a little bit, because you don’t want to cry every day,” Malik said.
Their waterfront home in Madeira Beach was hit hard by Helene. The water is now gone, but a musty, menacing mess remains.
“Mold. See that?” she said as she gave ABC Action News a tour of the damaged home. “That’s all mold.”
Right now, she and her husband are still living at the badly damaged home. They spend most of their time in an upstairs bedroom that wasn’t flooded.
Like so many others in communities up and down the coast, their shock has turned to anger. They have so many questions.
Can they rebuild? Should they? And if they do, will they have to elevate their home? And why is it taking so long to get those answers?
“People are up in arms about the slowness of things happening,” Malik said.
Madeira Beach Mayor Anne-Marie Brooks totally understands the frustration.
“We’re in the angry phase right now,” she said. “People just want to go home.”
She says Madeira Beach is working as fast as possible to inspect homes to determine which homes can be rebuilt before most permits are issued.
“I think every day we get better and get more efficient and faster,” she said. “We have requested additional staff through FEMA — through the county — through the EOC. We have not received that staff yet.”
To Brooks, the process, though slow, is important to follow carefully so as not to violate FEMA rules.
“If we don’t get it right, we could end up like other municipalities that have lost their discount to their insurance,” she said.
Fort Myers Beach is one of those municipalities.
“It is proof,” Brooks said.
Just days ago, homeowners in Fort Myers Beach learned they will be losing their National Flood Insurance Program insurance discount. FEMA placed the town on probation with the National Flood Insurance Program effective November 18, 2024, because many FEMA rules were not followed after Hurricane Ian devastated southwest Florida in 2022 and the issues have not been fully corrected since then.
As a result, homeowners will pay more for the federally-backed flood insurance.
“They’re looking at a 25% increase at a minimum on their flood insurance. So, I mean, you just think, 25% on somebody who’s paying even $5,000 a year — that’s substantial,” Brooks said.
(Read the letter FEMA sent Fort Myers Beach at this link.)
With that recent discipline mind, the waiting game continues in communities like Madeira Beach, where homeowners like Malik continue to struggle day to day.
“It’s been rough for me,” she said.
Helene destroyed most of her belongings, but not an ornate teak table that now graces her front porch.
“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” she said.
It’s on that table where she and her husband will enjoy a meal Thursday — where they’ll give thanks, as hard as that will be.
“You have to,” she said. “You have to have it in your heart, in your soul to carry on.”
Florida unlicensed contractor faces a bond normally reserved for murderers and violent criminals.
