Individual assistance from FEMA for Lee and Charlotte tornadoes denied

On Tuesday, the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) received word that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) denied its request for individual assistance for those in Lee and Charlotte Counties impacted by January tornadoes.

An EF1 tornado touched down in Placida in Charlotte County, and an EF2 touched down in Iona in Lee County on the morning of January 16.

You may remember the house flipped upside down in the damage. One month later, it is in the same place.

A flag hung in front of a home flipped over by the tornado on Windcrest Drive in Iona.

WINK News was in Iona when FEMA agent Andres Artis surveyed the tornado damage and spoke with tornado victims.

While he assessed the wreckage in cottage point, they waited. The wait is over, and their response to FEMA; thanks for nothing.

“I think it’s terrible,” said James Willis.

WINK News met Willis a month ago, only hours after the tornados ripped through.

Reporter Michael Hudak asked him, “the morning after, you walked outside and saw Ed’s place, and what did you think?”

“I think I better go see if he’s alive,” Willis said.

Ed was alive, but while he was in over his head, the man who owned the home under his home just wanted some help.

Kevin Cothron, whose home was destroyed in the tornado, said, “I live in an old trailer, and they could give a rat’s butt last about me.”

Cothron isn’t surprised he’s not getting help. “I really wasn’t, you know, when they came here to help assess the situation. I knew that right then, they weren’t going to do anything. But a month now, and they finally made a decision, they’re not going to do anything. The county has been holding up, waiting on them. And we waited for nothing.”

While Cothron doesn’t have a roof, the man across the street was sitting on his roof sipping a ginger ale and smoking a cigarette.

Jim Schaffer said he feels like a sitting duck. “I’m very, very disappointed. Just, you know, this is, this was a catastrophic disaster. And why they would not help is beyond me.”

Cothron, the man who owns the home under the home that is still hanging in the air, said he wouldn’t live here again.

He said he moved to Port Charlotte to have a place to lay his head every night.

On January 24, FDEM requested all the programs under Individual Assistance, including Individuals and Households Program, Disaster Case Management, Crisis Counseling and Training program, Disaster Legal Services and Disaster Unemployment Assistance. You can read the full request below:

https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/FLDEM/2022/02/16/file_attachments/2077837/SLG-BIZHUB22012411440.pdf

After disaster struck, FDEM was able to deploy disaster recovery staff into impacted counties to conduct Joint Preliminary Damage Assessments with county officials, FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration. These assessments determined 158 homes were destroyed or sustained major damage.

These twisters impacted mostly older residents, with 84% of them receiving Social Security Income. The State discovered that some survivors were forced to stay with neighbors to remain near their damaged homes during the assessments. With a high percentage of older adults and destroyed homes, this specific population will decline because of displacement and unstable housing.

FDEM plans to appeal the decision due to the destruction these tornadoes caused and the chaos left behind with displaced residents. FDEM is also attempting to identify other available means of assistance. You can read the denial letter below:

https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/FLDEM/2022/02/16/file_attachments/2077835/FL%20TD%20Letter.pdf

Kevin Guthrie is the director of FDEM. “While we begin the decision appeal process, I want to reassure Floridians that the Division is committed to supporting recovery efforts,” Guthrie said. “We’ll continue to work with our local and federal partners to provide relief to impacted residents and ensure all types of disaster assistance is made available.”