St. Pete residents with flood damages not eligible for FEMA assistance yet after Hurricane Idalia

Cleaning up after Hurricane Idalia

Kylie Jones reports

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Hundreds of homes in Shore Acres are flooded after Hurricane Idalia. It was one of the hardest hit neighborhoods in St. Petersburg, but residents aren’t eligible for FEMA assistance yet.

Only seven counties in Florida have been declared disaster zones and therefore, are eligible for FEMA assistance.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management said a Major Disaster Declaration was approved for Citrus, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Suwannee and Taylor counties.

One family who lives in Shore Acres learned their insurance wouldn’t cover the flooding damage, so they’re praying they’re able to apply for FEMA assistance.

"It's like a war area around here," said Ali Pratt, who lives in Shore Acres. "So it's just sad."

Pratt said her family decided to evacuate to Orlando. They loaded up sandbags in front of their home and tried to barricade it from the water, but unfortunately, it didn’t keep the water out.

"We lost everything," she said. "So it stinks. It's hard."

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Pratt said they watched the news Wednesday, and saw water flood their neighborhood and surround their home.

"So it was deep breath and let's see what we're dealing with," Pratt said.

When they returned home, she said she and her husband opened their front door to the pungent smell of mold and water lines at least a foot high.

"This is all trash," she said. "Like, yeah, you go through bedrooms and just take what you can and close the door and just say bye."

She said they could tell furniture and other belongings had been floating in the floodwaters. They’ve spent the last 36 hours cleaning out their home and throwing away the majority of their things.

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"And it's all gone," Pratt said. "Like, we have no piece of furniture salvaged and there's no insurance coverage, so we're stuck."

As longtime Florida residents, Pratt said they’ve owned homes and had flood insurance before. She said they knew what to look for when getting insurance.

"When we rented here, we knew this was a flood zone, and we did our due diligence in saying, ‘Hey, we need to make sure we have flood insurance.’ And the woman that I spoke to initially said ‘With renters, you don't have to worry about that. The hurricane insurance covers it.’ I said, I'm not sure about that," she said.

Pratt said they asked their insurance company multiple times over the last year if they’d be covered, out of an abundance of caution, and they were told they had everything they needed.

On Friday, she said their insurance adjuster told them the hurricane insurance wouldn’t cover the flooding damage.

Pratt said they’ve been trying to apply for assistance through FEMA, but haven’t been able to because Pinellas County has not been declared a disaster zone.

"So there is no FEMA assistance for us as far as we know," she said.

Like many others, Pratt and her family are forced to wait and see if Pinellas County will be approved and added to the Major Disaster Declaration.

"It's a disaster," she said. "And there's no getting any of this back. It's just gone."

The Florida Division of Emergency Management said Governor Ron DeSantis previously requested the Major Disaster Declaration for 25 counties, including Pinellas, Hillsborough, Citrus, Pasco, Hernando and Manatee counties. However, FDEM said the White House only approved seven Florida counties.

"Additional counties may be approved in the coming days after the completion of ongoing damage assessments," a spokesperson with FDEM said. "The Division continues to work with our FEMA counterparts to expedite these assessments in order to allow additional counties be included in the declaration."

Pinellas County Emergency Management said it continues to complete damage assessments and will submit them to FEMA, but there’s no timeline on if and when Pinellas County could be added to the declaration.

You can find information on disaster relief and resources in Pinellas County here.

St. Petersburg Hurricane Idalia