PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Hurricane Idalia continues to make waves for people living at Twin City Mobile Home Park in Pinellas County.
Some people say they still haven’t been able to return because of flood damage, and now county leaders are saying they either need to make the repairs to come up to code or they’ll be forced to move out.
“This has been hell,” Erin Roth explained to ABC Action News. Roth still hasn’t been able to sleep in her own bed at the Twin City Mobile Home Park after Hurricane Idalia flooded her community.
“I have a 14-year-old. So, it's been pretty rough not being able to come home,” she added.
We’ve met with Roth multiple times in the past to speak with her about flooding concerns in her neighborhood.
Those problems are ongoing, but Roth said this damage is different. She said Hurricane Idalia left her and her neighbors feeling hopeless.
“It took everything from us, almost like having your kid taken away from you. I mean, our whole investment, our whole future, is gone. It’s indescribable,” added Douglas McVey, who also lives in the community.
This week, people living in Twin City Mobile Home Park called ABC Action News again with concerns about a letter they received from Pinellas County.
It reads in part: “Your home is considered substantially damaged and must be brought into compliance with county and state requirements.”
They are requirements that McVey and his neighbors said they can’t afford.
“What they're asking, you know, is to raise my home nine feet. That's extreme and very, very expensive. I mean, because that's just raising the home. That is not including your electrical, your plumbing, or sewer, the skirting in the labor,” McVey elaborated.
The letter also states they have until next hurricane season to come up to code, or they’ll need to move.
This comes after the residents told ABC Action News that FEMA already quoted them for damage post-Idalia.
“My reaction was pissed. I mean, I just spent all this money fixing this place to be told that it didn't matter, that we have to leave anyway,” Roth added.
We brought their concerns directly to county leaders, pushing for answers on how they plan to address residents in need.
County leaders sent ABC Action News this statement, which reads in part:
“Residents who received substantial damage letters can appeal their FEMA individual assistance now that they have the letter. They may qualify for additional FEMA financial assistance to help meet their housing needs. The county will continue to communicate with park management and residents…”
Yet, McVey and Roth added they just want some stability after so much uncertainty.
"Obviously, we're going to do what the letter says. But now it's a whole different story. So I wish they would have made it clear from the get-go," McVey said.
