Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Saturday that he would seek a major disaster declaration for Broward County, an action many have been waiting for nearly two weeks.
This is a request to the federal government that would provide resources to those affected and infrastructure in areas like the Edgewood neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale. What remains for many of these families is devastation, loss, waste.
Fort Lauderdale City Administrator Greg Chavarría said, “We are awaiting that response and when we have that response, we can request individual assistance for those who have been affected.”
If this declaration is granted by the White House, it would provide a wide range of federal resources to help people and public infrastructure directly affected by the passage of this storm system.
One such flood-affected person in Fort Lauderdale is Mrs. Octavia Angelina Morales, who has been trying to save property for days as she says she has lost everything.
“It was something that had never happened…this water, a terrible flood…the cars were damaged, they were total losses, not to mention the material,” says Morales, who has what little he could pick up in front of his house.
“Today is the last thing I took off because they are going to renovate the apartment because the humidity has risen over 4 feet…that’s rubbish uh-huh” , he said, pointing to his things in the middle of the street.
A few streets away, a devastating panorama reveals heaps of furniture, clothes, rubble. Everything destroyed, house by house, where you can see the sample of what caused the heavy flooding in Fort Lauderdale on April 12.
“The water came in here – it shows the middle of the wall – we were without power for 4, 5 days,” recalls Fort Lauderdale flood victim Octavia Angelina Morales.
Meanwhile, María Egues, who was also affected by the floods, notes: “it went up like that…to the edge of the plinth but on the edges it flooded a little more…I lost all the furniture.”
A situation experienced by those who have been affected by the catastrophic rains in different places in Broward.
“A difficult first time…I’ve been here for 23 years and it’s the first time I’ve seen the rain really hard and we’re fighting to move on,” explained Egues.
According to Emergency Management Division records, there are more than 1,000 homes that have suffered significant damage, inside many there is dampness which as the days go by brings more d uncertainty in the community.
“We’re fried…we don’t have any help…I have nothing so we’re going through all of this,” said Fort Lauderdale flood victim Octavia Angelina Morales.
I was speaking recently with a community leader who also lives in one of these houses, he says they consider this ground zero, but he has not been treated as such. Two weeks later, they feel forgotten and ask the authorities for more help.