TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. — Living along the Gulf Coast, we know so many people rely on FEMA after a hurricane...But now the future of FEMA is up in the air.
President Trump announced that after this hurricane season, the federal government plans to start phasing it out.
"It's been a real test of endurance, patience and frustration, and you just have to wait. It's very hard to wait," said Nancy Watters, who lives on Sunset Beach.
Nancy Watters said her house on Sunset Beach has been in disarray since Hurricane Helene.
WATCH: Treasure Island residents concerned about future hurricane recovery without FEMA
"The difficulty is getting people to show up…getting supplies and inventory delivered. You wait and you think it's gonna be the following week and then it's a month later," said Watters.
But it's finally being put back together.
"It was like that 'finally it's happening' and then to see it come all the way to fruition… when you see the cabinets go in when you see the carpenter finish, it was like wow this is really amazing!" said Watters.
And while repairs took a while, she said one thing is for sure: the initial response after the storms was swift.
"Two days after the storm, when they cleared the road and we could walk in here, FEMA and the response teams were amazing. Had we not had FEMA, we'd be sitting here on the sandbar," said Watters.
Watters said FEMA paid for a lot of her recovery.
"They were here like that…I mean, two weeks, the guy was sitting here on the porch writing the check. They were amazing," she said.
That's why she hopes FEMA sticks around for a while.
But President Trump announced this week that after this hurricane season, the federal government plans to phase out FEMA.
Governor Ron DeSantis said this decision would get rid of some of the red tape that delayed recovery last season.
The change would put more responsibilities on states to provide emergency response services after disasters.
"I don't think the state of Florida has enough money to pay for all the storms that we have in the state of Florida. I mean, we got them up and down the coast in the panhandle," said Rick Furman, who also lives on Treasure Island.
Rick Furman said FEMA was able to help in ways the state isn't prepared for.
"FEMA has the experience, they have the knowledge and they have the government to come in and they have the federal national guard to help also," said Furman.
"We need them to take care of the big needs. When you have a major disaster like that, it's only gonna be a federal government with a big truck and their trained crews," said Watters.
Watters said no matter what happens with FEMA, people should be prepared for future storms.
"We were fortunate. They took good care of us, but I do not expect it. I will not expect it next time," said Watters.
Pasco County woman trying to rebuild mobile home after hurricanes
"I cried, of course, because I've worked very hard getting it nice, which has been difficult for me since I lost my husband and being alone,” Kelly Welty said.
Welty's mobile home lost its roof during Hurricane Milton. She said it was the only one in the Buena Vista community to get totaled by a tornado.
