State, federal partners continue to help North Port rebuild after Hurricane Ian

NORTH PORT, Fla. - More than five weeks after Hurricane Ian left the City of North Port devastated, blue tarps still cover roofs and some businesses remain closed. State and federal partners were back in the city Monday to continue efforts to help them rebuild. 

Holes remain where a roof should be at the Hive North Port. Mold has taken over the co-work space that once hosted many businesses.

"This is what we were running ‘When All Else Fails’ out of, but everything is gone," said Justin Willis, the volunteer executive director of When All Else Fails. "We tried pulling stuff out, we tried saving things, but that didn’t work."

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When All Else Fails is a non-profit that works to help community members, and now, they're working to support so many who've lost everything. 

"You have residents here in North Port who are sleeping in tents behind their houses," Willis said. "They are crashing inside their place of business until they can find a place to stay. Almost every single rental has been rented or been taken off the market because of storm damage."

Damage can still be seen throughout the city. While repairs are being made, some are slower than others.

"We are going to meet with people, we are going to listen, and we will bring in the teams to have discussions with folks," said Greg Vaday, an economic development representative.

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Local, state and federal organizations met with city leaders to discuss resources that are available.

"Until you know they are there and how they can help you, you feel alone, and what this conversation pointed out the fact that there are many resources out there," said Jerome Fletcher, the city manager of North Port. "We have a long term recovery plan that we are putting in place for the city, and we can’t do that without partners."

It'll take months, but it will happen one day at a time.

"It’s doing whatever we can to help take care of our community," Willis said. "You take on as much as you can every single day and hope that tomorrow will be a little bit better."