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Gulfport boaters holding out hope for FEMA relief after extensive damages from Debby

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Published  August 19, 2024 9:48pm EDT
Pinellas County
FOX 13 News

Concerns for boat owners in Gulfport after Debby

FOX 13's Jennifer Kveglis reports

GULFPORT, Fla. - Some Gulfport boat owners are still holding out hope for FEMA relief after having to sign the rights to their vessels over to the city. Locals estimate about 20 boaters, most of which lived on their vessels, lost their boats after Hurricane Debby. 

Kaylee Walker and Ian Wylie moved from Kentucky to Gulfport earlier this year and lived aboard their sailboat "Unbridled Spirit" since June. 

"It speaks a lot to our personalities. We want to live with no fear, unbridled by anything that holds us back. It’s also the motto of our home state of Kentucky," Wylie said, "She was more than a boat to us. She was our home."

READ: FEMA going door-to-door in Manatee, Sarasota counties

The couple endured Debby aboard the sailboat, which wound up lodged into a nearby seawall. It was deemed a total loss. Walker said at first, FWC gave them a notice. 

"We had 45 days to get our boat off of the wall," she said.

But recent orders from the City of Gulfport superseded FWC's notice. 

"We don’t know why it was deemed hazardous," Walker said, "If we didn’t sign it over then we would have been stuck paying to get it off the wall, which we can’t afford."

MORE: Wastewater spills from Debby's flooding causing water quality concerns

So, the couple signed the registration over to the city and allowed local boaters in need to grab whatever materials they needed from their sailboat Monday afternoon. 

FOX 13 shared last week that FEMA relief was not available to Pinellas County residents. The couple hopes if that changes, they could still be eligible. 

"We don’t know how to feel. We don’t know," Wylie said. "We’re feeling frustrated, we’re feeling sad. Feeling stressed. Watching something that we worked so hard for and put so much effort into. Just getting discarded like a piece of trash, and it just hurts."

Reilly Mulligan shares the same sentiment after losing the sailboat she called home for the past four years too. 

Mulligan said she recently put $12,000 worth of upgrades into the sailboat she lovingly named "Julia Ann" after her best friend who passed away in 2019.

READ: Volunteers needed for continued support in Sarasota post-Debby

"It has sunflowers on it, because those were her favorite flowers," she said. 

Mulligan’s boat sunk after the storm. 

"I lost my car. My home. All of my tools and how I make money. And I put tens of thousands of dollars into that boat," she said. 

Mulligan, too, is unsure whether to sign over the rights to her boat to the city out of fear she could lose FEMA assistance if it were to become available. 

"FEMA, please help. We're begging you. Absolutely begging you," she said.

FOX 13 asked FEMA if boaters in Gulfport are eligible for any financial assistance, and if Wylie, Walker and Mulligan could lose eligibility for assistance by signing the rights of their boat to the city. A spokesperson did not immediately respond.

FOX 13 also reached out to the City of Gulfport, but did not receive a response.

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