Hurricane Michael Program

OVERVIEW

On October 10, 2018, Hurricane Michael collided with the Florida Panhandle as only the fifth Category 5 hurricane to ever make landfall in the U.S. The 160 mph winds devastated communities along the Gulf Coast, with over $25 billion in damages nationwide – Bay County, FL being the hardest hit area. In Mexico Beach, FL over 90% of the buildings were reported damaged, and close to half were destroyed. An additional 45,000 structures in Panama City, FL were damaged, including two hospitals.

Compass 82 was selected by Volunteer Florida to run the FEMA-funded Disaster Case Management Program (DCMP) for Bay County. Compass 82 Disaster Case Managers (DCMs) worked with impacted households to identify their immediate and long-term needs, develop individualized recovery plans, and connect survivors to the appropriate local, state, and federal resources to aide in their recoveries.

Locally referred to as the “Forgotten 5,” Hurricane Michael did not garner the national attention or fundraising efforts of past major storms. This left impacted communities with an overwhelming amount of work to do, and few resources with which to do it. Consolidation and coordination of the available resources at a community level was the only way residents would be able to return home.

By collaborating with multiple community agencies and organizations, including Bay County’s long term recovery group – Rebuild Bay County, Inc. – Compass 82 was able to help mend the disrupted network of community resources, allowing survivors to quickly access food, utility and housing assistance, furniture replacement, and other vital resources.

Compass 82 also worked in collaboration with both federal and state led programs to secure permanent housing for hundreds of families in Bay County. The Compass 82 team coordinated directly with FEMA to assist families with the purchase of their FEMA-issued mobile housing units (MHUs) – enabling them to recover in a safe, sanitary, and secure residence. Compass 82 also helped over 200 homeowners navigate the application and eligibility process for the state’s Rebuild Florida Housing Repair and Replacement Program.

SUCCESS STORY

After Hurricane Michael severely damaged our client’s home, she found herself with only enough funds to repair the roof and gut the interior of her home. The client was working on saving up to make the massive repairs to the home when she started working with Compass 82. The client’s Disaster Case Manager (DCM) helped her look over contracts, gather paperwork, and create a recovery plan.

The DCM realized the client’s project was a good fit for SBP, a non-profit builder. The DCM worked on the application for SBP, but once SBP started looking further into the client’s project it became clear that the contractor who had worked on her roof did not get the required inspections throughout the repair process and her roof was not approved by local code enforcement. To keep this unexpected obstacle from derailing the client’s recovery, the DCM worked with township inspectors and authorities to get the roof into compliance. Now that the home was eligible for SBP’s services, full interior repairs began. Just three months later the client was finally able to move back into her beautifully repaired home.