ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The storm surge from Hurricane Idalia has homeowners across coastal communities now gutting their homes. In St. Petersburg, the first-day debris pick-up began on Thursday.
It may take some homeowners extra time to bring all of their debris to the curb, as many are waiting for inspections and assessments to be completed by FEMA or insurance adjusters. The city of St. Petersburg says they’ll continue to clean up debris for as long as it takes until they can get these areas returned to normal.
Andrew Vargas purchased his Shore Acres home two years ago. Idalia's storm surge brought in roughly one foot of water into his home last week.
"We're on the edge of a breakdown a lot of days but we're doing our best," Vargas said.
He's got a lot of work to do before his home is livable again. He's been able to get some help from FEMA.
"Luckily my wife reached out the first day [it] was declared a disaster area. They came out that same day and afternoon. He walked around and did his thing and we're just getting back what we're eligible for," Vargas said. "We're eligible for some rent coverage. That's it so far."
Neighbors across shore acres are dragging their life's possessions to the curb. On Thursday, debris removal trucks rolled through to clear the damage.
"We don't want to move too fast and really foul communities up if they haven't had a chance to have their debris inspected, or, or reviewed by insurance or FEMA or whoever else," Mike Jefferis, the city's community enrichment administrator said.
Debris pick-up is happening now in Shore Acres, Venetian Isles, Riviera Bay Shores, Tanglewood, and Snell Isle.
For every homeowner dealing with a ruined home, many say the images you see on TV don't capture the reality of the situation.
"Luckily we can put on credit cards for now," Vargas said, looking at all the damage done to his home. "This is my life now. We can't pick up and sell because it's you know who's gonna want to buy the house."
As homeowners continue their cleanup efforts, there are some FEMA guidelines the city has to adhere to. Black trash bags like this won’t be picked up. That’s because crews need to know what they’re gathering.
"It all comes down to keeping the debris segregated so that we know what we're picking up. And so that we know what each contractor is gathering from the residential property," Jefferis said. "FEMA is so specific about making sure we know what we're gathering that we have to gather serial numbers off of appliances as we're gathering that debris."
Malique Rankin is a general assignment reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. You can email her story ideas at mrankin@10tampabay.com and follow her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.
