PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — How do you start over so late in life? Where do you begin? Who can you turn to for help?
Right now, Rick Gilkes doesn’t have the answers to those questions, but what he does have is a twisted-metal remnant of a home.
On the night of June 25, an EF-1 tornado shredded his home and dozens of others in the Bay Ranch mobile home community in Largo. More were damaged in the Ranchero Village community nearby.
“The debris hitting the trailer sounded like a machine gun — bullets hitting. Then, you heard the locomotive. And the next thing, it was like a bomb. It just went off like a bomb,” he said of his home. “It just hurts to see this place. The more I come back here, the harder it is.”
Gilkes has a temporary place to live but not much else.
“We’re relying — trying to rely — on our government and not getting any help,” he said.
Thursday, the U.S. Small Business Administration opened a resource center inside the Largo Public Library and is offering disaster loans to both homeowners and businesses.
But Gilkes isn’t satisfied.
“We need more than that,” he said. “We need relief.”
He’s looking for Pinellas County and especially the state to play a bigger role in the recovery.
“All that we’re hoping for is that the governor realizes this — this isn’t thousands of people. This is 50 or so people that need help,” he said.
Without it, he worries about what’s next for him and many of his neighbors.
“These are people on fixed incomes,” he said. “Older people.”
They’re people with so many unanswered questions after a sudden, unexpected disaster.
As for the disaster loans being offered by the Small Business Administration (SBA), homeowners and renters may qualify for up to $100,000 for personal property losses, and up to $500,000 to repair or replace their primary residence.
The SBA’s outreach center at Largo Public Library (120 Central Park Drive) will operate through July 28 with the following schedule:
- Monday-Wednesday: 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
- Thursday-Friday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
- Saturday: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
- Closed Sundays and permanently closing July 28 at 4 p.m.
You can call 211 or (727) 210-4211 to learn of other potential resources that might be available to you and your family.
For questions about assistance, insurance claims, contractor issues, and eviction, you can contact the Bay Area Legal Services, a nonprofit law firm, at 833-514-2940.
If you are a family with one or more children in Pinellas County, FSI Connect might also be able to help. To find out, call 727-888-HELP (4357).
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