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Coastal Englewood here. Off of Placida..neighborhood called Grove City. Big pond in the back yard (that had 6x gators in it...loved those gators) connected to Buck Creek which connected to the intercoastal behind Don Pedro Island. We're sort of behind Stump Pass.
Had a 12' surge..a lot of salt water in it, the rest was swamp water from the pond. Our yard was about 8 foot above sea level. So around 4 foot on top of that.
yeah...main house had about 30" of water in it...ruined a lot of furniture. Had just paid off our Tempur Pedic bed in June...which cost $6k. Lost that and a lot of stuff.
Had rennovated an old shed in the side yard to a yoga studio she shed for my wife. It ripped off the foundation (I didn't built the structure, just rennovated the insides really nice)....floaded a few houses down the street across someones yard and into a swamp in the back. She was upset...lost a lot of stuff in it.
Our third building..3x month old washer and dryer...lost. Generator, power washer, and TONS of tools.
We were renting the place...goal was to rent there for tween 1-2 years. House is ruined, took too much water in the walls, and the HVAC system...ducts were under the floors...sandwiched in....so not readily fixable...filled with swamp crud.
We moved to inland Venice a bit. My office is still down on Placida...no more 2 minute 30 second commute for me, it's about 35 minutes now (ain't winter season yet...it'll be over 45 I'm sure).
Bought a bunch of cheaper furniture to get going for now, we'll slowly replace with nicer stuff as budget allows.
Wife is happier in Venice...she always preferred it. I had 1 of those 6 gators that would swim right up to ya...get within 3 feet of ya. I never fed it but it's obvious someone in the neighborhood did. Was still cool to hang out with....will miss them.
All, I know the FEMA Disaster Recover Centers may be busy but it is worth the wait and effort to get registered and discuss what programs may be available to you.
There is a $750 grant for immediate needs, ie food, diapers, medications, etc basically anything you need to get by immediately after the event. After that inspections of the property could release other grant money to you such as hotel cost assistance, rebuild help, etc. If you are a rentor you will probably have less options than an owner.
I am not an expert on FEMA grants, but I know they are available and are helping thousands of people with recovery.
I'm 15 miles outside of Tampa and the eye was within 15 miles of us. This one was definitely different, and winds were not something want to experience again. Luckily for us no damage this time, neighborhood not so lucky. Power was out for 3 days but the generator kept our food. Biggest savior was that the weather was cooler than normal and you weren't cooking in the un air conditioned house.
We were really lucky in my neighborhood east of Tampa and only got about a half inch of water in the living room, kitchen and dining rooms. Only real damage was that the baseboards absorbed water and started to bow out and pull away from the walls. The neighbor behind us got a foot and a half of water and destroyed everything in the entire first floor of her house. We were also fortunate in that I was able to get the plug installed to hook up the generator the day before the storm.
After 35 years of living here and dealing with summers having high 90's temps, 98% humidity, a monsoon season that lasts from April until the end of September, hurricanes and car driver that actively seek to kill me every time I ride I think I'm done with Florida and don't imagine I'll still be here next summer.
