OKEECHOBEE COUNTY, Fla. — Nearly two years after a monster Hurricane Ian left a trail of damage in Okeechobee County, the federal government has approved a $2 million grant to reimburse the county for debris removal.
Ian, which at one point grew to Category 5 strength, hammered Florida in late September of 2022, downing trees, damaging roofs, and knocking out power to Okeechobee County residents.
In a news release Wednesday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it's approved a $2 million grant that will be reimbursed to the county to cover the costs of extensive debris cleanup.
"Approximately 180,868 cubic yards of vegetative debris and 4,796 cubic yards of hurricane-generated debris were removed from roads and public property," FEMA said.
WPTV asked county officials why it's taken nearly two years for the approval and they said the time span is not uncommon when it comes to federal money.
"FEMA has to make sure that every i is dotted and t is crossed, so it takes a little bit of time for us to get that paperwork together and then it takes a lot more time for FEMA to review everything," said Denise Whitehead, the assistant county administrator for Okeechobee County. "Then from there, it goes on to the state, to the Florida Department of Emergency Management, and they have to do their reviews and then it comes back to us. We're very understanding of that process, but it sure is nice when we can get it quicker."
Whitehead said the county is responsible to pay for the hurricane expenses as they're happening, and used money from an emergency fund, that will be replenished with the FEMA reimbursement.
"It's always good news to know that our processes are working here at the county that we're being responsible, taking care of our taxpayers, making sure we're prepared for another event," said Whitehead. "We are here for our residents, we are prepared for our residents, we're ready."
The National Hurricane Center said Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida as a Category 4 major hurricane, causing more than $112 billion in damage, making it the costliest hurricane in Florida’s history and the third-costliest in United States history.
Ian was responsible for more 150 direct and indirect deaths, the NHC said.
At Journey's End mobile home community, residents like Daniel Knouse said he is thankful for the county workers that helped clean up his area.
"There was a bunch of trees down across the street and the county had a front-end loader and a man with a chainsaw and the man was sawing it up, so people could get back and forth into their places," said Knouse. "They're doing the best they can with what they have to work with."
Journey's End is a community WPTV did reports on in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.
"These poor people over here, their whole Florida room blew away," said Whitehead. "Aluminum pans from some of the carports were up in those cypress trees."
Neighbors have since cleaned up and repaired much of the damage.
Knouse said he evacuated his mobile home during hurricane Ian and came home to the damage.
"I'm ready to go a motel again. I put a standing order up there and left a deposit if I leave here," said Knouse.
A decision he's prepared to do again in the event of another storm.
