>>This week on NewsNight, as FEMA opens the first disaster recovery centers in central Florida, residents continue to face an anxious wait for help.

>>Right now, were on a fixed income.

We can't afford any extra expenses.

>>Plus, the problem of inland flooding and how communities can prevent it happening again.

>>I don't believe we were ready for this type of impact.

We were not ready for this hurricane.

>>NewsNight starts now.

[MUSIC] Hello, I'm Steve Mort, and welcome to NewsNight, where we take a closer look at the big stories impacting central Florida and how they affect all of us.

Joining us this week in the studio, Erik Sandoval, investigative reporter for WKMG, Channel 6.

Thanks for coming in, Eric.

And Amy Greene, environment reporter for 90.7 WMFE News.

Thanks for coming in, Amy.

>>Anytime.

>>Appreciate it, guys All right.

First tonight, the next phase in the recovery efforts in central Florida as floodwaters recedes, albeit very slowly.

Some people in Seminole County are continuing to experience flooding as disaster recovery centers open up across the state to help residents rebuild their lives.

And FEMA teams are going door to door to make sure those who qualify for financial assistance know how to apply.

Treading the pavement in Richmond Heights.

>>Thank you.

You take care.

>>Part of the shoe leather work of disaster recovery.

These teams of FEMA agents check to make sure residents in this hard hit neighborhood have applied for assistance or even know that they can.

>>The most we can do here is just kind of leave a flyer.

>>They have strict rules, though.

For example, they can't open a gate to get to a house.

Instead, they have to leave an information sheet.

Some residents in this neighborhood have applied for FEMA help.

>>I didn't get it.

>>Oh, you didn't get them.

>>But say they haven't yet received an update on when they might get the money.

>>And if I don't hear from people today and when they come to inspect that I need to go to Barnett Park and get in the line.

>>Stella Sutton says agents told her that her application for help to repair shingles and water damage in her home was pending.

She needs to visit a disaster recovery center to find out more.

>>It will be the thing we need because right now were on a fixed income and we can't afford any extra expenses.

And this was unexpected, we didn't have time to save or anything like that for.

This came up and we were blessed that we didn't have more damage and flooding.

>>For these FEMA personnel, Life may not be as difficult as it is for the residents they serve, but the days are long.

>>It may prompt you to do stuff along the way.

>>Some may spend weeks, perhaps months, away from home in disaster hit parts of Florida.

Ann Marie came from Colorado and is living in a hotel.

>>Trying to help people.

You feel so bad everything that has happened to them and it was just a way I know I could reach out and kind of help the process along.

So it's nothing to me to have to leave my home to come to these areas where these people have lost so much for 6 to 8 weeks, whatever it takes to try to make the process go a little faster for them.

>>While the waters receded here in the Orange County community of Richmond Heights, the same cannot be said for some other parts of central Florida.

>>We've got a long haul to get back to some type of normal in the computer - community.

It could be a month or so.

The Seminole State College site.

>>Alan Harris is Seminole Countys Emergency manager.

>>Individuals that have had water sitting in their house for now weeks, it's it's going to be years before they fully recover.

So it's a long road ahead of us.

This is a horrific event, historical event.

And we're going to come together as a community to to to be resilient over it.

>>Alan Harris from Seminole County there.

Amy, let me start with you on this.

I mean, as time moves on from this storm, we're sort of getting a clearer picture of the cost, certainly in financial terms of what this storm has meant.

And that's you've been looking into that right in Volusia County.

>>That's right.

Well, as a whole, preliminary estimates are that in Florida, the cost will be about $55 billion in property damage across the state.

Dozens of deaths in Volusia County alone.

Officials are estimating about $263 million in property damage.

And they point out that across the county, from the coast inland to the St. Johns River, there's been a lot of really problematic flooding along the St. Johns River.

And I visited a neighborhood yesterday that is still more than two weeks after Hurricane Ian, almost inaccessible because of flooding on roadways.

And residents there are bracing for that situation to continue for a few more weeks.

>>And talking about that slow moving crisis area, I mean, Sanford just this week extended its emergency declaration as this disaster continues to impact that community.

What does that do?

What does it allow people, officials to get on with?

>>Well, I think you showed some of the video at the beginning of the program showing the waterfront of downtown Sanford.

It's still underwater.

You know, Lake Monroe is just basically over the streets there, flooded streets.

So what this does, that disaster declaration does is it allows the city to go out to vendors and go ahead and pay for services to start repairing downtown Sanford without having to go to city council first.

And also, you know, in the worst case scenario, it also allows the city to impose curfews.

But, you know, now that the storm has passed, we really don't see that happening.

>>I want to talk about some of the communities that have been sort of somewhat less covered when it comes to the impacts of this storm.

We've talked a bit on this show about vulnerable communities and how they get hit hard by natural disasters.

The Sentinel actually did some reporting this week on seniors and how they've been impacted.

What kind of problems are we seeing, Erik?

>>We've gotten calls into our newsroom at Channel 6 on this too, you know, loved ones calling, concerned about their loved ones who are in senior nursing homes and senior health homes, memory care centers.

You know, if you remember with Hurricane Irma, these centers were required to get generators.

That way there was air conditioning, there was power in these places when a storm came through.

>>Some fell short.

>>Some fell short.

Some did have the generators.

But what we're finding out is the air conditioning is being confined to maybe one room of the center.

So everybody has to congregate in that one room.

And we also we have to mention the Samaritan Village, Good Samaritan Center down in Kissimmee.

>>Yes.

>>Flooded, sorry.

As I sprayed with as I say, that the whole area was just flooded.

A lot of places are going to just be destroyed.

And right now, there's a tug of war on whether, you know, the county in the city is going to have eminent domain over that place to sort of help figure out what's going to happen there.

>>We're going to talk a bit more about this on the show next week.

But Amy, you've been looking into sort of the impact on vulnerable communities, particularly communities of color.

And I wonder what advocacy groups are saying about how those communities have been impacted and what they want done.

>>Well, that's right.

So, you know, we know that Hurricane Ian is an example of how climate change is leading to more extreme weather.

And when we think about those impacts, a lot of times it is the most vulnerable.

who are hardest hit.

A lot of a lot of marginalized, low income communities, communities of color live in low lying areas and multigenerational homes.

These are people who work really hard.

And so it can be hard to find time to go to the grocery store and stock up on supplies and, you know, put boards on the windows.

And so and so, you know, these are communities that are, you know, have unique needs.

I talked with one organization locally called Florida Rising, which recognized the need and set up some like community hubs in vulnerable areas like Eatonville here in Orlando, where people could go and access supplies and help.

>>One of those communities, Orlo Vista and that was hit particularly hard here in Orange County.

We've seen some frustration-- >>Its been hit hard before.

>>Before as well.

That's right.

And residents are frustrated about it for that reason.

Why do we keep getting hit so hard?

>>And Orange County responded, you know, they basically - I have it here.

They had $20 million in business.

They had a plan set up for Orlo Vista.

They had $20 million in bids come in for that project, but they only had 10 million to spend.

That's a difference of $10 million.

So they were basically left holding the bag, saying, what are we going to do?

So what they told the residents was they're going to go back to FEMA.

They're going to ask for more money.

But this isn't a quick fix.

This is going to take a while.

They're going to have to do more bids and it's going to we may have another storm before things get fixed there.

>>And Jerry Demings, the mayor of Orange County, saying it's very complicated to try to apportion blame for this.

And it certainly is complex when you've got so many different jurisdictions and government agencies, I mean, many people in Orlo Vista, and it's not just Orlo Vista, across the state don't have flood insurance.

We learned that in Lee County where the storm made landfall, only a quarter of people have flood insurance there.

In central Florida counties, it's more like two, three, 4%.

I wonder how important that makes the role of those walking FEMA crews as they go door to door?

I wonder how important it makes their job given that people just didn't have a safety net.

>>They're the lifeline, basically.

You know, the flood insurance would help homeowners recoup some of their losses.

And I'd say in a faster way, they can file an insurance claim and just deal with their insurance company.

Here, they're relying on the federal government and FEMA, which is going to be a little bit slower, number one.

But number two, they're not going to see as much money as they would with with a flood insurance policy.

It's going to be pennies on the dollar that they'll be getting back.

>>And many of them are going to be turning to those disaster recovery centers, Amy, that opened up around the state, including in our area.

What do we know about what's available at those sites?

>>Yeah, these are kind of all service hubs where individuals and businesses who are affected by the hurricane, you know, where they can go to ask questions and seek assistance with forms in a process that can be very confusing.

>>Good to have that all in one place.

Local, state and federal assistance there.

Well, you can find a link to the disaster recovery center locator where you can look up the closest center to you.

It's on our website wucf.org/newsnight.

All right, next tonight, the resiliency issues surrounding the impact of Hurricane Ian.

Coastal communities, of course, are no stranger to the effects of rising water.

But this storm laid bare the perils facing central Florida's inland communities.

NewsNight's Krystel Knowles looks at the challenges in two communities one in coastal Brevard, the other in Orange County.

>>The last time Florida saw this kind of devastation was during the great Labor Day hurricane of 1935.

Even though Central Florida and Brevard County escaped the full wrath, It brought to light just how fragile the state's flood protections really are, particularly inland.

>>This last hurricane, there, there was a lot more rain.

>>Laura Betts, program manager for the Cleo Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to climate, education, advocacy and policy, says hurricanes are becoming stronger and bringing a lot more flooding in their wake.

>>I don't believe we were ready for this type of impact.

We were not ready for this hurricane.

There was a lot more rain.

Historic levels of rain.

Some say it was a 500 year type of rainfall.

>>Betts says Central Florida's flood issues after large rain events are twofold.

Developers building in flood zones and desecrating wetlands for new development.

>>You're looking at what's a new natural occurrence in this area because the wetlands have been destroyed.

>>A perfect example is this road in Horizon west, just north of Disney World.

>>This is terrible.

>>According to Betts, when she moved here about ten years ago, this road had never flooded for long periods of time, but it did after Hurricane Ian.

Betts says she's working with city and county officials to help draft updated building code to meet the new climate reality.

>>They're looking at their tree ordinance and making that more stricter.

They're looking at the wetland ordinance as well, that - theyre rewriting that currently theyre rewriting their housing chapter, theyre rewriting every chapter of that comprehensive plan and this is when as a community, we need to be involved.

>>While inland communities are starting to look at different ways to adapt during flooding, after major weather events, coastal communities have two things to worry about.

Storm surge and sea level rising.

That's why cities like Satellite Beach are looking at changing code to allow new development to be built on stilts.

This is no easy feat.

>>We've done so many stormwater improvements.

>>Since 2019, Satellite Beach City Manager Courtney Barker has been working on updating codes to allow buildings to be 45 feet high, up from the current 35 feet.

Parker says she expected it would be easy to do, but it's trickier and more involved than she thought.

>>Changing codes affects private property rights, and it's a very difficult process to go through with the community that affects community character.

A lot of people don't want their community to change and you know, it's scary for people.

We just got funded by the legislature for one of our large stormwater projects.

>>She says a category three storm can decimate a city, and with every passing hurricane, the reality of a storm surge is becoming more apparent.

>>Really, the goal is we want to make sure that when we get a disaster like that by raising the height and allowing water, the storm surge to go under the buildings that we're able to save, you know, property, we're able to save most of our structures, build them in a better way, a more resilient way so that we can withstand some of these storms, but also to affect water quality as well.

According to the most recent sea level rise projections from NOAA, in the next 30 years, Floridians can expect to see sea levels rising about 10 to 12 inches, even in the absence of storms.

So places that were previously not considered flood zones will be at risk, and places in the lowest lying areas are more likely to experience extreme flooding.

>>Krystel Knowles reporting there.

Erik, you've covered the aftermath of this in Astor, which is in Lake County.

Right.

Experienced extreme flooding.

Tell us what you've been finding is the problem there.

>>Right now, and I can say this with affirmation.

Theyre still two and a half feet above flood stage and they're not expected to go back down for-- >>Were two weeks on.

>>With two weeks on.

There's still homes that are completely flooded out, inaccessible, except by boat.

But once you get to the house, it's it's all flooded.

It's heartbreaking for a lot of people there.

But, you know, the people of Astor, when you talk to them, they say they still wouldn't live anywhere else.

They know this.

This is part of part of the deal as far as solutions goes.

We've uncovered that the US Army Corps of Engineers is actually funded.

They're going to get a study together and they're going to be on site in Astor to see if there's any way that they can fortify that town from any more future flooding.

Because, as Krystel just said, sea level rise of foot by 2050.

That's all going to flow up the St. Johns River and create an even bigger problem for us.

>>And you've been looking at this even before this storm struck about this issue in Astor.

I mean, what prompted you to do that and sort of what are the long term issues there in that town?

>>We've covered Astor for, I want to say, every hurricane that has hit, you know, most predominantly Irma.

We traveled with one of the local pastors there as he traveled through the floodwater in his big truck, trying to rescue some of his congregation from their homes.

And it was at that point we said, well, what is the solution?

And when NOAA came out with their revised prediction earlier this year, I believe it was saying that the sea level rise is happening faster than we anticipated.

We anticipate a foot by 2050.

And then we looked at the projections.

It actually went up the St Johns and we said, we have to look at Astor.

What's going on there?

>>What's going on with the St. Johns River?

I mean, we saw the St. Johns River flooding in Jacksonville after Irma.

Why is that river so vulnerable during these storms?

And you know what's going on when this flooding continues so long after the event?

>>Well, it's because we're just seeing this monumental flooding across the central Florida landscape.

Officials are characterizing this flooding as historic and all of that water has to go somewhere and a lot of it will flow through tributaries and into the St. Johns River, which is the state's longest river.

It begins in Indian River County and flows north through Jacksonville and into the Atlantic Ocean.

And so it's just a process for this water to drain off the central Florida landscape into the St. Johns River and out to sea.

>>I mean, as an environment reporter, you've sort of been looking beyond as well to human impacts along the river.

You've done some reporting on what Hurricane Ian has meant for the St. Johns River itself.

What have been the environmental impacts on that river?

>>Yeah, that river.

It's one of the most important waterways in the state.

And with Hurricane Ian, you know, we've seen, you know, sewage will flow into that river, nutrient pollution that can lead to harmful algae blooms and toxic algae.

And I talked with St. Johns River keeper Lisa Rinaman in who told me that, you know, she's getting reports from residents who live along there about debris and boats and docks washing up into people's backyards, you know, as opposed to a nicely flowing river.

>>Yeah, so many impacts.

Erik, we heard in Krystel's story that for some coastal communities, you know, mitigation isn't a new thing.

Do we think that inland areas can learn anything from the worst that happened on the coast in the past, or are they totally different areas?

>>I would say, you know, there's the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is a good start.

They're not the ones that are going to fortify the town.

It's going to be up to Lake County and Volusia County, because basically Astor straddles both counties with the river there.

But I would also go back to flood insurance.

You know, who knew that a town just situated along a navigate-able you know river would would suffer from such massive flood waters not just once but repeatedly over the years.

And, you know, talking with some people in Daytona Beach who live along the Tomoko River, they had flood insurance at one point, but it just got too expensive, $8,000 a year.

And they just said, we don't we don't have that kind of money.

Their house flooded as well.

So it's something has to give.

>>You've covered the Army Corps of Engineers a lot in your work on the Everglades.

I mean, can some of the things that they've done on the coast be applied inland?

>>Well, here's you know, here's the conversation that I'm hearing and some of my reporting on Hurricane Ian.

And I think what may be, you know, new with Hurricane Ian is, you know, when we think about, you know, adaptation and retreat even, which is an extraordinarily difficult conversation to have, you know, in in affected communities, you know, you know, it used to be we would talk about these things in terms of the coast, but now I'm hearing that that conversation, you know, in terms of, you know, some of these affected communities in central Florida and, you know, the morality or the ethics of investing taxpayer dollars, in rebuilding homes that are in a known floodplain.

It's an extraordinarily difficult conversation to have.

And I don't know that Florida is ready for real change in that regard.

You know, if you look back at Hurricane Katrina, there were like 2,000 deaths associated with that hurricane and New Orleans was rebuilt and people are continuing to live in vulnerable areas.

But I do think it may be new with this hurricane that we're hearing that in reference to some of these vulnerable areas in inland in central Florida.

>>And that brings me on to what I was going to ask you, Erik, I mean, the governor has made resiliency, stormwater infrastructure kind of an investment priority this year in the state, including in Lee County, of course, which which bore the brunt of Ian.

But can we actually spend our way out of these problems or do we need to think about where we put developments in the future?

>>I think it's a little bit of both.

I think it's where we put these new developments and it's also how we build them.

You know, I think Krystel touched on it in Satellite Beach where they're investigating, putting more homes on stilts.

And, you know, there's a community I'm covering right now in Ormond Beach along the Tomoka River, who they've applied twice for FEMA assistance to raise their house on stilts and twice they got denied.

They just say there's not enough evidence that it floods there.

I think with this third time flooding, they say how much more evidence do you need?

But I think it's a little mix of both.

You need to target areas that are not going to be decimated by floodwaters in a hurricane, number one.

But number two, building it smartly where if it does flood the the destruction is minimal.

>>Well be sure to join this conversation on social media, were at WUCFTV on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Okay.

Finally tonight, the politics of climate change have emerged again after Hurricane Ian's onslaught.

Heres President Biden speaking during his recent visit to Fort Myers with Governor DeSantis.

>>More fires have burned in the west to the southwest, burned everything right to the ground and in the entire state of New Jersey.

The most rumors that takes out and the reservoirs out west here are are down to almost zero.

We're in a situation where the Colorado River looks more like a stream.

There's a lot going on.

And I think the one thing this has finally ended is a discussion about whether or not there's climate change.

We should do something about it.

>>President Biden there.

Erik, the president said during his visit that the biggest thing the governor has done is recognize that there's this is a quote, recognize there's a thing called global warming, saying what the governor has done is remarkable.

But the governor hasn't really acknowledged that in public has he?

>>I don't think he's used those words.

Let me put it that way.

Yeah.

But I want to say, some of his policies have definitely tipped the hat to to the possibility of climate change and global warming.

He recently named the resiliency officer.

He also signed off on legislation that requires FDOT to take a good look at the roads and infrastructure in the state of Florida and, you know, alert everybody about problem areas that may be crumbling because of flooding or more susceptible to flooding if if a major hurricane comes.

He also vetoed a bill last season, of course, that we talked about on this show that deals with residential solar power.

So he hasn't said, yes, global warming exists, but I think a lot of his policies do indicate that he is going down that road.

>>It's interesting that Erik mentioned solar there because one of the hits on the governor has been that he's done a lot of work when it comes to resiliency, but he hasn't done much when it comes to the underlying causes of carbon pollution, for example.

Is that sort of part, do you think, of the politics of being a Republican governor in a flood prone state?

>>Yeah, I think you're right, Steve.

You know, Governor Ron DeSantis has described himself as not really a global warming guy.

I think he said something along those lines.

His policy on climate change focuses on resilience.

He says his administration has put more than $1,000,000,000 toward hardening the state's infrastructure against rising seas and more destructive storms.

I just had a story on NPR yesterday about how this program is coming under scrutiny after Hurricane Ian and worked on that story with our frequent media partner, Inside Climate News.

And, you know, we talked with many environmental experts who, you know, point out that the program is long overdue in Florida, a Republican led state.

It doesn't address the main cause behind warming temperatures, which is fossil fuels.

And it does nothing to wean the state from fossil fuels.

But it does make money available for communities, you know, to make improvements.

One environmental expert told us that, you know, communities that want to make improvements have to show that they are aware of vulnerabilities and are going to address them.

And she said that is forcing an important conversation in the state.

>>Do you think, Erik, that we might see a shift in emphasis or a more of a sense of urgency on the state level, given how widespread the impacts of this storm have been?

>>I would hope so.

You know, I don't have a crystal ball by any means, but I would I would definitely hope so.

I don't know if we can expect the governor to use those words.

But again, policy may say it for him.

I guess we'll wait and see.

>>We will wait and see, indeed, when you can see more of my interview with Alan Harris, Seminole County Emergency manager on our website at WUCF.org/NewsNight.

Well, that is all the time we have for this week.

My thanks to Erik Sandoval, investigative reporter, WKMG, Channel 6.

Amy Green, 90.7, WMFE News.

Thanks for coming in, guys.

We'll see you next Friday night at 8:30 here on WUCF.

From all of us here at NewsNight, take care and have a great week.