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Laurel Meadows residents still cleaning out their Sarasota homes more than a week after Debby

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Published  August 12, 2024 5:55pm EDT
Sarasota County
FOX 13 News

Difficult recovery from Debby flooding in Sarasota

The Laurel Meadows neighborhood in Sarasota County was hit hard by flooding after Hurricane Debby brought record rainfall to the area. For many families, the long cleanup is just beginning.

SARASOTA, Fla. - The cleanup and recovery has just begun for families across Sarasota and Manatee counties.

The federal government approved a FEMA disaster declaration for a number of counties impacted by Tropical Storm Debby, including Sarasota and Manatee counties.

Residents can start applying for FEMA assistance.

Neighbors in Laurel Meadows in Sarasota, one of the hardest hit neighborhoods, are still cleaning out their homes.

Many of the homes in the neighborhood have to be gutted, after several feet of water filled homes for days. The floodwaters reduced nearly everything some neighbors own to piles of trash.

"My entire life is in my front yard, including my childhood memories," Kim Gregory said. "Just gone."

Gregory has lived in her home in Laurel Meadows for several years.

Her home is one of many in the neighborhood with a mound of furniture, trash, drywall and flooring lining the street.

"It’s just pretty tragic to just watch your house be swallowed up by water," she said. "Because that’s literally what happened."

READ: Bay Area residents devastated by Debby can apply for financial aid through FEMA

Gregory’s home has to be gutted. She says they lost just about everything.

"I had to have my friends go in my closet and clear it out, because I lost my wedding dress, the dress I wore to my daughter’s wedding," she said.

Gregory and her family have spent the last several days ripping out drywall, cabinets and appliances.

She says, like many others in Laurel Meadows, they don’t have flood insurance, because they were told they didn’t need it.

"We wanted to be away from all the madness and away from all the flood zones and storm surges, and our entire community was destroyed," Gregory said.

After weekend assessments, Sarasota County officials say the lift station that services Laurel Meadows stayed operational during the storm, but that a power outage at a downstream lift station caused a wastewater manhole spill.

PREVIOUS: Laurel Meadows residents continue questioning why they flooded as waters begin receding

County officials say less than 1,000 gallons spilled out of this manhole, and that the lifted manhole was not the cause of the flooding in Laurel Meadows.

The county says the homes in this neighborhood were already flooded with stormwater at this time. Gregory and many other neighbors are still left with hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs.

She says the one silver lining of this devastation is how the community is pulling together to support one another.

"The way we’re all willing to help each other out with supplies or help," Gregory said.

Gregory says Good Samaritans saw the damage on social media, and jumped in to help with some of the heavy lifting and cleanup.

"It’s very overwhelming love that I feel, and I just feel very humble," she said. "And I feel like I owe my life to these people, and I don’t know how to pay them back for what they’re doing."

Neighbors are leaning on each other and the support from the community to help begin the recovery process.

You can find information about applying for FEMA disaster assistance here.

Sarasota County’s Multi-Agency Resource Center is open daily through Friday, August 16, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Sarasota Christian Church on Asher Road in Sarasota.

The county says local and state resources are at this center, and residents can pick up supplies there.

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