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Eatonville residents rebuild after missing out on additional federal hurricane funding

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EATONVILLE, Fla. — The town of Eatonville is working to ensure it doesn’t miss out on federal funds.

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Dozens of homes in the Catalina neighborhood were flooded from Hurricane Ian.

Community members say they had to rely on insurance and personal resources for repairs.

Channel 9 learned the town never applied for additional funds that could have helped its community.

Channel 9 found some neighbors with sandbags and tape still surrounding their doors in the area. Some neighbors are still on guard.

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The house still has sandbags against its doors and tape along the cracks because these families still feel the impacts more than a year after Ian.

Theo McWhite grew up in Eatonville.

“Me and my brother built that yard up,” McWhite said. “We’ve been through 20 storms, and it never flooded but the last one.”

He was referring to Hurricane Ian last year.

Read: Orange County asks residents for input on how to spend $220M in Hurricane Ian recovery funds

‘It was really heartbreaking,” McWhite said. “I just got emotional now, just to see my mom go through that.”

Other homes in the Catalina neighborhood along Lake King in Eatonville felt the same pain.

Mamie Hunter had to leave her home for four months after the hurricane.

“The water came all the way up,” Hunter said.

Looking back: Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida one year ago

Mayor Angie Gardner told Channel 9 the town didn’t apply for federal assistance because its council voted against the presented team of grant writers. The town missed out on grants that could have assisted with the town’s damaged pipes and infrastructure, which Gardner said creates an oversaturated ground, leaving water nowhere to go.

“That really hurt the community,” McWhite said.

Gardner said that there’s a budget now for a grant writer and fiscal coordinator, and a contractor will collect data needed to apply for federal funding to help families like the McWhites.

Read: Hurricane Ian’s impact still felt along Volusia County coastline

“We got maybe $8,000 in insurance,” McWhite said. “But we had about $20,000 in damage.”

The town meeting on Monday will prioritize upcoming projects.

It will be at 5 p.m. at the Denton Johnson Community Center. The town is also looking to hire a grant writer.

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