FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Alida Augustine stepped into the front yard in a pink house dress and a hair wrap Thursday afternoon, eager to tell Broward’s mayor and the team of government officials at her doorstep about the damage to her home of 30 years.
A week after the flood submerged the Melrose Park neighborhood under several feet of water, Augustine’s street was clear, the sun was out, and the air was cool and dry. But the interior of her home tells a different story: The roof is leaking and mold is growing, Augustine said. One of the rooms in the house is piled high with ruined “stuff,” and it reeks.
“I don’t go to that room. I’m scared to touch it,” she told The South Florida Sun Sentinel, lingering outside as the group of officials began to move on to her neighbors’ homes. As they walked away, she called, “Are you coming back?”
Not exactly, one of the officials explained. But they would be uploading her information to an app that collects data that the federal government could use to decide whether to assist her and others like her.
Their group included people from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and the Broward County government, forming one of four teams documenting damage throughout the now dried-out neighborhoods of Melrose Park, Edgewood, and other hard-hit areas Wednesday and Thursday.
The state had requested FEMA’s help in conducting a “joint preliminary damage assessment,” the first step in the process toward getting federal aid.
Their goal is to document not only the literal damage to hundreds of homes, such as through water lines, but the “overall trauma to the community,” said John Mills, a spokesperson for FEMA. That includes any “unmet needs” residents have, such as electricity, food, and housing, should they need to relocate.
Even though the water is largely gone, many residents are still living in “dangerous situations,” Mills said, breathing in the mold now growing in their homes.
When they finish their work, the damage assessment teams will send the data they collected to the state, which will then determine whether to request a major disaster declaration from the federal government. If the federal government approves the declaration, then the state can receive assistance for individual residents, local governments, or both, depending on the disaster. To get the declaration, the state must demonstrate that the extent of the damage exceeds local and state resources.
In the working class, predominantly minority neighborhood of Melrose Park, the team encountered residents still living in moldy homes, many of whom had no insurance, or who had insurance that wouldn’t cover the damage they incurred. Some owned their homes, others rented. Some were elderly and lived alone; others were taking care of several children.
Many speak Spanish or Creole as their first language, not English, which FEMA will take into consideration when they return to tell people how to get assistance.
On the sidewalk outside of Augustine’s house, Broward Mayor Lamar Fisher spoke to Mills, pointing out the $12,000 deductible one of the residents told him she owed, wondering what could be done.
“I said, ‘do you have homeowner’s insurance?’” he explained. “She didn’t know.”
Fisher penned a letter to President Joe Biden Thursday to personally ask him for help.
“While we strive to help our residents, we truly believe that the support of the Federal government, and FEMA in particular, will be critical in achieving a complete recovery for our residents, our businesses, and our infrastructure,” the letter read.
In addition to requesting aid from the federal government, Broward County is also offering other forms of assistance, Fisher said. He encouraged residents to call 311 to reach the Human Services department, which can offer help with moving expenses and temporary housing, as well as food and water, on a case-by-case basis.
Audrey Wint sat on the front steps of her home of nearly 20 years, watching the officials walk by and wondering if they would finally come to her door. The FEMA officials had likely already assessed her home from the outside, without having to speak to her, Mills explained. But he walked over anyway, sitting on the bench on her porch.
The 85-year old’s face lit up when he introduced himself as John, just like her adopted father, she said.
“I hope you’re as good as the John in the Bible,” she told him.
Wint’s carpet and mattress were soaked with the water. For a week, she stayed in her home, unable to leave. She had to cancel all her doctor’s appointments, she said. But at least she had enough food to last the week, because she buys all her meat and seasons it in bulk.
Although she worried about the damage to her home, she was even more concerned that the neighborhood had flooded so badly again in such a short amount of time. Melrose Park flooded three years ago during Tropical Storm Eta.
“They just have to do something about the drainage here,” Wint said. “That’s not good, even for your health ... something has to be done.”
Down the block, Shanitra Fulks put her hand halfway between her front doorknob and the ground to show the team the extent of the flooding in the four-bedroom home she rents for herself and her four children. Last Wednesday, the water came in through the door, the walls, even the sockets, she told them. The day after, the flooding only got worse.
She showed the FEMA officials a video of her street, turned into a river in the storm, as they stared in disbelief.
The couch Fulks had just bought and was still paying off is now covered in mold, she said.
Her things were destroyed three years ago, the last time the neighborhood flooded. She had renters’ insurance back then, but her insurance company wouldn’t cover the damage to her belongings because her policy didn’t cover floods, and the water came from outside the house, not a leak, she said.
When Fulks tried to get flood insurance, she said she was told that she didn’t qualify because she was a renter. So she canceled her policy, and had no insurance when her home flooded again last week.
Renters can purchase flood insurance policies through the National Flood Insurance Program, according to FEMA.
Mills asked if Fulks had heard from the owner of the home, a rental company. She said no.
“They told me someone was going to come out, but they never came,” she told The South Florida Sun- Sentinel later, figuring they must think the streets are still flooded. “I guess they’re waiting for everything to calm down.”
