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(CREDIT: WINK News) People who live in the six counties hardest hit by Hurricane Ian can get help paying their insurance deductibles. Those six counties include Lee, Charlotte, Collier, Desoto, Hardee and Sarasota. The governor made an announcement on Saturday and WINK News dug in to see how to apply since the announcement may have come with little preparation. Ian damaged thousands of homes and left many families wondering how they can pay their deductibles to get their houses back to normal and safe. Now there are millions of dollars available to you to make that happen. Governor Ron DeSantis, in Punta Gorda on Saturday said, “We understand there’s a lot of challenges here. We understand that those deductibles can be difficult to meet and we want to be able to help. And so, folks can stand by and you will be getting information about that very soon.” But applying or even just trying to find the application proved to be impossible. None of the six counties listed had an application ready online for people to apply for help. According to the state, you apply through your county’s state housing initiatives partnership or ship program which you can find by going to floridahousing.org. WINK News first looked for Lee County and ran into a roadblock, the web page was not found. While checking the other counties, more roadblocks presented themselves. Collier County links worked and the website said to call a number to apply, after calling that number WINK News was met with a message relaying that the person in charge is out of the office until Halloween. As for Charlotte County, the numbers both the state and the county provided were met with automated messages. WINK News emailed the contact listed for Charlotte County and they responded with the following message: The program announced by Governor DeSantis on Saturday, October 22, 2022 will officially launch on Tuesday, October 25, 2022. Having received over 60 email inquiries already, we have not had an opportunity to read and respond to each one individually. This program is new, and will be sought by many. Your patience as we navigate this together is much appreciated. Some preliminary information: Proof of US citizenship and full-time, permanent Charlotte County residency required Proof of insurance claim (renters or homeowners) and FEMA registration required Full application with proper identification and verification of income of all household members will be processed Acknowledgement of the Fraud Policy and notarized Duplication of Benefits affidavit required A minimum of 1 in-person appointment required; Englewood and Port Charlotte locations available Maximum grant award = $12,000 No direct payments/reimbursement to applicant; eligible payments direct to insurance provider or qualified vendor But the application isn’t on the website and it wasn’t in the email. Desoto County’s website said you have to apply in person at the social services department in Arcadia. WINK News did hear back from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation. They said some local ship offices will have applications up on their websites as early as Tuesday or closer to the end of the week. They are also training workers on using the documentation to help get money out to you as soon as possible.