MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. — "Making progress" — That was part of the sentiment Gov. Ron DeSantis imparted as he visited Madeira Beach Wednesday morning. Pinellas County and its barrier islands were among places most affected by Hurricane Helene's impacts.
Despite the amount of damage to the area, DeSantis noted the number of home and business owners working in tandem with first responders and state resource teams to clean up and get back to a sense of normalcy. "This isn't always the case," he said, explaining how oftentimes cleanup and recovery from disasters take a lot longer.
The governor said he and state leaders will work to "cut red tape" and provide resources to county and local governments to aid in ongoing recovery.
One such resource DeSantis mentioned was free "muck & gut" help from disaster response teams.
DeSantis said about 50,000 cubic yards of sand have been removed from roads and property. He says it's possible that some of the sand can be used for future beach renourishment.
'Insurance village' in Clearwater
For those still waiting on getting a check from their insurance company after filing a claim for Hurricane Helene damage, Florida's chief financial officer says to come out to the state's "insurance village."
CFO Jimmy Patronis said insurers will be on-site to answer questions and provide initial claims checks that people can get that same day.
“Let us help you solve your insurance claims process,” Patronis said Wednesday. “The insurance carrier will literally write you a check to get you stabilized.”
The event is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Long Center on 1501 N Belcher Road in Clearwater.
Property tax relief for affected homes, businesses
DeSantis announced he has directed county tax offices to give property tax rebates to home and business owners whose buildings have been made uninhabitable.
"When you have places like here in Pinellas County and feet of storm surge you are going to have to muck and gut the house, even if it's not a total loss, you are going to be in this place for a certain period of time," DeSantis said. "So we believe and have always believed, that when that happens, the last thing that homeowners and property owners need to be worried about is paying property taxes."
Property owners will have until March 1, 2025 to apply for that refund. Paperwork can be found on FloridaRevenue.com.
Devastation seen across Madeira Beach
The cleanup continues along Madeira Beach and John's Pass areas, where homes, businesses and motels were ravaged by Helene's storm surge.
On Wednesday, piles of debris and damaged belongings were hauled out of many of the area businesses. It's unclear when some will be able to reopen, but for some, it could be months.
"This was a whole 'nother ballgame," Elana Davis, owner of Yogurt City in John's Pass said. "The damage is upwards of $200,000 if those yogurt machines are broken, and I don’t think we can come back from that. "
Impacted business owners, staff and volunteers were helping support the recovery effort.
"Everybody here has been really awesome with helping out, trying to do what they can, to help everybody. And that's that's what we should be doing," Jason Brokhausen, co-owner of Llama Java Coffee said.
