ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It’s been a long road to recovery for neighbors in Shore Acres trying to bounce back after recent storms.
“About as bad as it can be,” said Ivan Smerznak, whose home was damaged after Hurricane Helene.
WATCH: Residents can soon apply for Sunrise St. Pete disaster recovery funds
Smerznak shared pictures and video with Tampa Bay 28, showing a home in ruins and an unrecognizable neighborhood.
“For at least two months afterwards, the entire neighborhood smelled like sewage,” said Smerznak. "You couldn’t even see the yards because it was piles of people’s personal belongings.”
Now the city is looking to give neighbors a lifeline.
Applications for the Sunrise St. Pete disaster recovery funds will open soon.
The City of St. Pete got nearly $160 million from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. It’s meant to support the long-term recovery efforts from Hurricanes Idalia and Helene.
“Seeing some type of program that actually aims to help residents is a huge step and certainly happy about that, going to look into it,” said Smerznak.
The funds will be used to help rebuild homes, give rental and mortgage assistance, among other needs.
“The number one thing that would help us is to elevate it just because we had four feet of water in the house,” said Smerznak. "If we were elevated, it would still be bad, but we wouldn’t have to be out of the house, and we could actually not worry every hurricane season about whether we could stay there.”
Just down the road, Charlie Ann Turner was dealt a similar deck of problems.
“Eta really wasn’t that bad. It was a couple inches, and then Idalia was 16, and then Helene was four,” she said.
Turner grew up in the neighborhood, which she calls a hidden gem.
“We still need help,” said Turner. "Personally, my house has not been touched since Helene, so we’re working on going into the second year, and I haven’t even been able to start construction.”
City leaders want people to know the program is designed to help after all other assistance has been exhausted.
People can apply for assistance starting Monday, Dec. 15.
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