SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla. — It’s been nearly three months since storm surge from Hurricane Idalia flooded homes across the Tampa Bay area — and the headaches, cleanup and insurance woes continue for so many.
“This is my son’s room. He’s four, he has medical issues. The water came through the wall through the front,” Kimberly Culbertson explained. The hospice nurse showed 10 Tampa Bay where water entered her home in the hard-hit Shore Acres neighborhood of St. Petersburg.
Culbertson, her husband, two kids and dogs have been living elsewhere since flooding from Idalia caused extensive damage in late August.
“We got eight and a half inches of water inside the house. However, it's not rainwater, it's actual sewer water,” Culbertson explained, saying the sandbags they put up before evacuating proved no match for the volume of water.
Culbertson says they filed an insurance claim right after the storm and were able to get a chunk of change to replace a good amount of damage and goods, but they were denied something else: money to replace the flooring.
“We had to prove that our tile and our slab got wet, so [the adjustor] recommended we pull one tile up from each corner and we can prove it was wet and we did do that,” said Culbertson, who showed videos of water seeping up over her tiles when pressed on.
Culbertson says her insurer Frontline, would only pay to deep clean the floor, not rip up or replace the tile, a cost she says is around $14,000 and believes is necessary.
“We pay our premiums for this reason and so when we, if we ever do need them, hopefully we never do, they'll help us out,” she added. Her appeal was also denied, and she’s been asking for reconsideration over the last several weeks.
“I’m just hoping maybe they'll meet me, come to the table. Meet me maybe halfway, do something to help me out. Because it isn't fair. It's not right. Because you wouldn't live in your house if you had sewer water under your tile and you could prove It, you wouldn't. Nobody would,” Culbertson said.
We reached out to Frontline to hear its reasoning and are waiting to hear back.
Now months after Idalia, many like Culbertson are still working through the insurance process to get back in their homes. According to the state’s Office of Insurance Regulation, as of Nov. 16, just over 28% of private flood claims have been closed.
Most homeowners get their flood insurance through or underwritten by FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program, where people can also appeal claim decisions.
Work is still going on at Culbertson’s house where a contractor is installing new floors without taking payment yet.
"I just want to come home. I just want to come home with my dogs and my kids. I just want to come home and I can't," she said.
For those still in need of help while they work through this process, FEMA still has disaster assistance available to help with basic home repairs and rental assistance. The deadline to apply is Nov. 29.
To apply you can call 800-621-3362, go online to DisasterAssistance.gov or download the FEMA App for mobile devices. Lines are open every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET.
If you have issues with an insurer or a claim you filed, you can also get help and file a report through the state's Insurance Consumer Advocate.