- November 20, 2024
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It’s a new year, but residents continue to recover from the Dec. 14 tornado that roared through Palm Coast, destroying homes along the way.
As of Jan. 2, the damage was estimated to be about $7.22 million, said Cindi Lane, communications and marketing manager for the city.
In total, 208 homes were partially damaged, 25 homes suffered serious damage and seven were destroyed.
In fact, when state and federal agents visited town Dec.19 to assess to damage, an entire street with damaged homes was discovered. Lane said more damage reports could come in as residents return home from the holidays, too.
The federal agents that visited town last month were with the U.S. Small Business Administration. They were here to determine whether or not homeowners in the area qualify for aid.
There has been no official determination yet, Lane said Thursday, but she said the city doesn’t anticipate any aid to come in.
“When they finished (their assessment), they came in ... and said that because it appears that most of the properties were fully insured, we probably would not qualify,” Lane said. “That’s still pending, but it doesn’t appear we’re going to qualify based on the feedback we received after they went out.”
Lane said the state and federal agents said it was good news that the city was heavily insured.
“I think that they only found one or two properties that weren’t insured or were underinsured,” Lane said. “That’s great news because it means ... people will have the financial means to rebuild.”
The building value damage is about $22 million, Lane added, noting that number is based on property assessments and wont’ actually be how much it will cost to replace the homes.
The local state of emergency that was declared by Mayor Jon Netts also expired earlier this week after being extended once.
As of Jan. 2, the city collected 302 cubic yards of loose debris and 204 cubic yards of chip-up debris. In addition, Waste Pro has removed about 197 tons of debris. The cubic yards measurement is based on volume rather than weight, and Lane said there's no way to convert them to the same measurement.
Tree replacement, all in good time
Many trees were destroyed by the tornado.
But according to Bill Butler, the city's landscape architect, code requirements will be more flexible while homeowners work to fix and replace yard damage. Butler went out the day after the storm to talk to residents about their tree-replacement plans.
Instead of having residents visit city offices to pick up tree permits, staff delivered batches of permits to homes.
There are requirements for how many trees a homeowner has to have. Those requirements depend on the size of the lot, but standard lots require four trees — two of one kind, two of another kind. There needs to be at least one tree in the front yard and one tree in the backyard.
There were 34 properties that were given tree permits. Of those, six required mitigation, Lane said. The other 28 didn’t require mitigation because they still had enough trees on their property to meet the code.
Typically, the city requires mitigation within 30 days. But because of the special circumstance, the city decided on a 6-month window for replacement. But that deadline is flexible, Lane said.
“We’re going to work with each property owner on what’s the appropriate timeline,” Lane said. “If (the homeowner) is still doing repairs on a screen enclosure six months from now, then obviously it’s not the right time to put in a tree.”
The main goal, Lane said, is to work with the homeowners. But she reiterated that the city does want the trees replaced.
“A big thing in Palm Coast is we pride ourselves on high development standards ... and we don’t have to have the tornado create a scar on the city to where things are not repaired or replaced,” she said. “We do want things to be put back to a correct state.”
And most owners, Lane said, have been cooperative. The ones that aren't will eventually have to face the city’s Code Board. Lane said situations “very rarely” reach a point where the city needs to take action.
The city is hoping to can continue to help residents, too. The city’s annual Arbor Day event, scheduled for the first weekend in May, is one of the city’s top yearly events. Typically, the city will give each attendant a small tree. But city officials have been considering giving away larger trees to people who lost trees during the tornado.
“It’s going to take some time,” Lane said. “We know that. We’re going to be flexible with people. We always are.”
