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FEMA Officials In Volusia County Tornado Ravaged Areas

FEMA started its assessment in DeLand, Wednesday, where more than 200 mobile homes were damaged in 4 different parks. At the same time, apartment renters in Daytona Beach got to go home for the first time since the Christmas Day tornadoes. And in Leesburg, homeowners are getting a hand cleaning up the damage at the Brittany Estates trailer park where 26 homes were damaged.

Two days after the tornadoes struck the community, you could see the piles of wood and aluminum that used to be homes. Many of the trailers were too old to be covered by insurance, so the people who lived there and lost everything could be out of luck.

As residents continue to sort through the wreckage, FEMA inspectors walk the streets. What they document will be sent on to the President.

Jessica Rittinger hopes he will be listening.

"Pretty much everything is gone," she said.

Like many residents, Jessica does not have insurance. Her trailer was too old. Insurance companies wouldn't cover it because they said it wouldn't stand up to high winds. Apparently they were right.

A federal loan may be the only way Jessica and her family can dig their way out of the mess.

"I hope FEMA can help us. It's total devastation around here," she said.

If the President declares a disaster, low and no interest federal loans could become available. If federal money does not come through, some residents without insurance said they will do the only thing they can, pray for help.


Volusia County Emergency Ops Centers Open
Volusia County Shelter Information
Volusia Co. Road Closures
VIDEO: Residents Refuse To Leave Their Property After Tornadoes
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Edie Maiden did just that. And along came Jeff Salerno and his crew.

"He says, ‘Edie, can I help you’," Maiden said.

They actually helped Edie when her trailer was destroyed by hurricanes two years ago. Now they're back helping clear her home for next to nothing. They are her angels of salvage.

Edie said she's happy at least someone is helping.

"He said he'll make sure to bring the whole trailer out here and the lot would be clean because I have no insurance," Maiden added.

In Daytona Beach Wednesday night, residents at the Sutton Place Apartments, whose units weren't damaged, were allowed back in.

But the complex was enforcing a curfew, because of the dangerous tornado debris, and fears of looters.

The new damage estimate for Volusia County stands at $33 million.

At Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, a spokesman said 50 of 65 planes were damaged. Some were flipped over, some had wings torn off, and some were slammed against a building. A small fire broke out in a support building but it was extinguished.

In Lake County, there were reports of peeled roofs, downed trees and downed power lines in the Brittney Estates area in Leesburg. At least 25 homes were damaged. On Tuesday Governor Elect Charlie Crist warned tornado victims to be on the lookout for price gouging.

Residents of the affected areas can call 1-866-9-NO-SCAM to report suspected gouging. Florida law bans extreme price increases for food, water, hotels, ice, gasoline, lumber and equipment needed after an officially declared emergency. Crist also cautioned consumers to be aware of business scams for repair work.

Heavy rains and damaging high winds hit other parts of Florida on Monday, destroying at least two homes, but no serious injuries were reported, authorities said.

In Columbia County near Lake City, about 60 miles west of Jacksonville in north Florida, authorities reported that at least two homes destroyed and 10 damaged.

"It's amazing we don't have serious injuries or deaths," Columbia County sheriff's department spokeswoman Laurie Windham said. "We are incredibly blessed."

Windham said one person was treated for lacerations.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the Columbia County area shortly before 8 a.m. Monday, but it was not clear whether the damage was due to a tornado, Windham said.

In Pasco County, along the Gulf coast north of Tampa, a roof was blown off a home in San Antonio and some trees were knocked over by high winds, one briefly blocking a county road intersection in New Port Richey, sheriff's deputy Doug Tobin reported.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service reported 5.58 inches of rainfall at the Tallahassee Regional Airport, the most on Christmas Day since 1897, meteorologist Ron Block reported. And 5.8 inches of rain was recorded at the Florida State University campus, only a few miles from the airport. Tallahassee in located in the Florida Panhandle, roughly halfway between Pensacola and Jacksonville.

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