TAMPA, Florida — Parts of Tampa and Hillsborough County still have a long way to rebuild more than one week after Hurricane Milton made landfall.
The storm flooded areas that aren't as flood prone including North Tampa where the Forest Hills neighborhood went underwater. It prompted one city council member to call for an outside investigation during Thursday's city council meeting.
A cooler day in Tampa brought some relief to Kathy Kaestner of Forest Hills.
She hasn't stopped cleaning and tearing her Forest Hills home apart after water went inside. It's a home she's owned for 30 years.
“I just feel like I have to start all over again," Kaestner said. "I didn't think I'd be starting over at my age. It's scary."
Her sons, friends and the neighborhood have been helping her rebuild. That part brings perhaps the most relief.
“I was so stressed out because I didn’t think I was going to have enough help to pull things out here," Kaestner said. "People started showing up and that meant the world to me.”
Like other neighbors, Kaestner said she does hope for answers, but in the meantime, rebuilding one day at a time remains her focus.
“When one family in Forest Hills is hurting, everybody in Forest Hills is hurting. That’s just the community that we have," said Shelley Hamilton, whose lived in the neighborhood for 20 years.
Hamilton said while people want answers, it's also important for people to come together and support one another. It's among the defining characters of the neighborhood.
Meals for those in need have been constant this week at Babe Zaharias Golf Course, courtesy of help from sources like the Salvation Army and American Red Cross, the neighborhood association stated. In addition, meals have been served to the community with help from Meals on Wheels of Tampa.
"I was so thankful to see how we all rallied together to heal," Hamilton said. "I just want to see everybody come out the other side of this better."
As those like Kaestner work to rebuild, she said she tries to look at the positives, despite how difficult her circumstances may be.
A spokesperson for the city of Tampa wrote there are three pump stations in Forest Hills. However, only Curiousity Creek pump station had a backup generator.
"That generator did not start up because the transfer switch did not operate properly. It is believed that when Milton knocked the power out, a sudden surge may have caused the transfer switch to fail," a spokesperson wrote in a statement.
The city stated the pump was running again by noon on Friday and added staff checked pumps and generators prior to Milton's arrival. The spokesperson added Milton dumped 13.8 inches of rain in the North Tampa area, which is equivalent of a 300-year storm.
"Milton was unprecedented and on the back of Hurricane Helene and the wettest September on record. The ground was already extremely saturated," the statement read.
Resources on where to get help in Tampa can be found by clicking here.
The Forest Hills Neighborhood Association also posts updates and resources on its Facebook page.
Neighbors are encouraged to make use of resources available including Hope Florida.