State Continues To Help Counties Recover From Hurricanes Ian, Nicole

FLORIDA — With the arrival of the Atlantic hurricane season in just three weeks, the state is continuing to help counties throughout the state recover from last year's devastation resulting from Hurricanes Ian and Nicole.

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity has been meeting with communities across the state that were impacted by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole to assist them with long-term recovery efforts.

To date, the DEO has visited and facilitated listening sessions in Charlotte, DeSoto, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pinellas, Polk and Sarasota counties, getting input from community leaders on how to best make use of the $910 million awarded to Florida through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program.

DEO staff is also continuing to assist all impacted communities with the application process for CDBG-DR funds.

"Last fall, Hurricanes Ian and Nicole wrecked havoc on Florida communities, up ending the lives of Floridians and significantly impacting public infrastructure and homes," said DEO Acting Secretary Meredith Ivey. "Our team is here for Floridians and communities impacted for the long haul, ready and available to support now and into the future until communities fully recover."

The DEO will continue to host listening sessions in all 24 counties impacted by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole through the beginning of June.

Created in 2019, DEO's Office of Long-Term Resiliency was federally allocated funding to support communities following disasters by addressing long-term recovery needs for housing, infrastructure, economic development, workforce training and mitigation.

Since 2017, Florida has received nearly $2.5 billion in federal funding to support the long-term recovery of Florida communities and residents impacted by Hurricanes Hermine, Matthew, Irma, Michael and Sally, as well CDBG-Mitigation funding related to storms that impacted Florida in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020. For more information, visit RebuildFlorida.gov.