PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — If you’re a property owner, looking to make your home more resilient as hurricane season approaches, Florida is awarding grants to cover most of the work.
Kevin and Donna Keegan showed me a video of the flooding in their Martin County community after Hurricane Nicole came through in November 2022.
WATCH: Martin County public works director explains benefits of program
“The water came up to mid step here," Kevin Keegan pointed out.
They were very close to flooding in the front, and the back of the home.
“The water did come over the top of the dock so it was that high," said Keegan. "The dock was submerged by about 18 inches of water, and same thing it was 6 inches under the top of that deck."
His neighbors across the street were not as fortunate, getting flooded out of their home for months.
With this history, the Keegans applied under a new state program called Elevate Florida.
Offered by the Florida Department of Emergency Management, the initiative allows eligible homeowners to either elevate, rebuild, or implement wind mitigation measures on their homes, with the state paying up to 75% of the costs.
Tuesday, Emergency Management held a webinar to explain the program. Right now, there is a hard cap of $220,000 offered per project.
“We have one neighborhood, St. Lucie Settlement that I know is interested. I also understand some folks in Sewall’s Point might also be interested," said Martin County Public Works Director Jim Gorton, adding in those cases, the homeowners flooding issues are not due to rainfall, but tidal flooding.
“That’s why it’s so important to get those houses above those peak elevations, so they don’t continue to flood," said Gorton.
Your home does not have to been damaged by flooding to be considered, but applications could be prioritized based on a history of loss.
“It’s worth being on the list to see if number one, we can get approved and the second, does it make sense for us, what will our actual out of pocket expense be," said Kevin Keegan.
The deadline to apply is April 11.
For more information about the program, click here.