CORTEZ – Many residents in local mobile home parks received substantial damage assessments from Manatee County following water intrusion from Hurricane Helene’s storm surge. Those residents attended a Nov. 6 meeting with Manatee County, FEMA and Florida Department of Emergency Management (FDEM) officials for answers about the next steps in the recovery process.
More than 100 Cortez mobile homeowners attended the informational meeting held at the Bridge Church to hear a presentation by officials outlining FEMA guidelines, including the 50% rule; county ordinances and its participation in, and adherence to, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) as well as timeframes for inspections and disaster assistance contacts.
“This past month has been difficult for everybody,” Manatee County Building Official and Floodplain Manager Bill Palmer said in opening remarks. “A lot of people lost their homes and a lot of houses were abandoned. Everybody wants to repair their homes and get back as quick as possible and get their lives back as normal as possible.”
Discussion on regulations
“Manatee County participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) so, when you rebuild or do repairs to homes, we must have guidelines on how you can rebuild. There are regulations so we want to make sure you have all the knowledge to move forward and be able to rebuild or decide which direction you want to go in,” Palmer said.
Palmer said there has been some misinformation circulated about the process.
“I’ve seen things that say we’re going to go in and condemn all the mobile home parks,” he said. “That’s just not true. We’re not going to do that.”
Manatee County Floodplain Manager Cheryl Bagby explained floodplain regulations.
“There are federal, state and local regulations that state if a home is damaged 50% of the value of the structure, or if it is improved 50% value of the structure, then the entire structure must be brought to current floodplain compliance,” she said. “This is commonly known as the FEMA 50% rule. What that means is if you sustain damage and the cost to bring your home back meets or exceeds 50% of the value of the structure, then the entire structure has to come up to current flood compliance, which includes elevating the structure.”
Bagby said the county’s disaster assessment team has gone out to the communities for an initial damage assessment.
“A lot of times they were unable to get inside. They took a look at the buildings and they did a data collection of how much observed damage there was to the building. They took that data and brought it back to us and we’re going to calculate that to see how substantially damaged that is,” she said.
She said Sunny Shores, Paradise Bay and Cortez Park are all located in a floodplain and all are subject to the 50% rule.
Bagby said the county receives the mobile home’s value from the Manatee County Property Appraiser.
“If you go on the property appraiser website, type in your address, it is currently labeled FEMA market value,” she said. “It’s not a value from FEMA, it’s a value that has been calculated for the structure. If you meet or exceed 50% of that the entire structure has to come into compliance.”
Bagby said homeowners have the right to hire a private appraiser to assess the pre-damage value of the home.
“We will take the higher of the two,” she said. “It should be reproduction value minus physical deterioration.”
Renovation, permits
Bagby said homeowners may remove damaged building materials but an application is required to make repairs.
“Even if you’re in a mobile home, there’s still an application to build back,” she said. “Take out that drywall, take out those contaminated materials, that’s okay. But before you build back you have to submit an application so we know whether or not you need to elevate your home. Don’t go spending money, because you might have something that ultimately has to be elevated and cost you a lot more.”
Homeowners wishing to do repairs to the mobile home must apply to the county for a storm mobile home review.
“You’ll need to submit paperwork with costs,” Bagby said. “If you’re under the 50% we’re going to sign off, say go ahead, you’re approved for repairs. If you’re over 50% we’ll tell you what your options are from there.”
She noted that because mobile homes are not subject to the Florida Building Code, people may think they don’t need permits to make repairs.
“It is, however, subject to floodplain regulations,” Bagby said. “Therefore that 50% rule still applies.”
For most storm damage repairs, permit fees are being waived.
“When you apply you need a contract or a cost breakdown. If you’re doing it yourself we need the material cost so we can get an accurate assessment of what this is going to cost,” Bagby said. “We need documentation validating the values. Labor is counted. For homeowners, it’s $30 an hour for labor. You have to assign a value to donated materials.”
She said with the 50% rule there is a one-year cumulative value. If any permits were pulled within and closed within the last year, or are older and still open, those values count toward the 50% value of the structure.
“The whole point of elevating is so you don’t have to go through this again, so you are protected against these storms because they are happening stronger and more frequently,” Bagby said.
FEMA and Small Business Administration (SBA) representatives attended the meeting via Zoom.
“Manatee County participates in the National Flood Insurance Program,” Tammy Hanson with FEMA Flood Plain Management said. “When the community joined the program, they agreed to adopt and enforce floodplain management requirements. What that allows is the ability for flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program.”
One of the things she said is misunderstood is that FEMA or the state is coming in to do assessments. That is not the case.
“That is not how the program works,” Hanson said. “There are federal, state and local requirements. It’s through the enforcement of local regulations where the determinations of damage assessment are made.”
Timeframe for inspections
“Our team is very short-staffed right now,” Bagby said. “We have a lot of applications coming in, plus we’re out in the community doing this disaster recovery work. Make sure any application you do submit, have it clearly state hurricane or storm damage so that it gets prioritized. The turnaround time for storm damage is a few days.”
Disaster assistance: FEMA and SBA
“The individual and household programs (IHP) provide assistance to eligible individuals and households who have uninsured, or underinsured necessary expenses that are a result of the disaster,” FEMA representative Millie Diaz said. “The IHP is not a substitute for insurance and cannot compensate all those losses.”
IHP has two specific provisions, one is for housing assistance and the other is for needs assistance,
“We also have displacement assistance for those who cannot return to their house and childcare assistance,” Diaz said.
Deadlines for assistance applications are Nov. 12 for Hurricane Debby, Nov. 27 for Hurricane Helene and Dec. 11 for Hurricane Milton.
Here are some helpful contact numbers:
FEMA disaster assistance – 800-621-3362
FEMA community services program – 833-514-2940
Disaster unemployment assistance – 800-385-3920 or www.Floridajobs.org
Crisis counseling – 800-985-5990
Small Business Administration – www.lending.sba.gov or 800-659-2955
A second meeting
To assist in answering questions about individual circumstances, a second meeting is being planned for Wednesday, Nov. 13 to include the following break-out areas:
FEMA:
- DSA: Disaster Survivor Assistance
- Individual Assistance
- SBA: Small Business
- Hazard Mitigation/Floodplain Management
- NFIP (insurance)
Manatee County:
- Zoning, 1 person
- Floodplain Management
- Building Official
- Code Enforcement
Details about a time and location for the Nov. 13 meeting are to be determined.
