- April 25, 2024
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Teams from the U.S. Small Business Administration walked through tornado-damaged areas of Palm Coast’s B-section Thursday, Dec. 19, marking down notes on their clipboards to determine whether or not an area will qualify for federal aid.
The SBA will decide in early 2014 whether local homeowners will qualify for stopgap loans to tide them over until their insurance payments come through.
Meanwhile, Palm Coast employees and volunteers have cleared away much of the mess left in the storm’s wake, replacing street signs and hauling toppled trees out of residents’ yards and streets.
“The recovery process has been going a lot smoother than we anticipated,” Palm Coast Fire Chief Mike Beadle said during a press conference Thursday.
Part of that, he said, was a result of community volunteerism and swift response from emergency responders and law enforcement officials.
“This community has really come together and helped one another,” said Mark Carman, a senior commander at the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. “We had some minor problems with some unlicensed contractors coming in, but we dealt with that immediately.”
The Red Cross also sent out volunteers, and neighbors have come to each others’ tree-strewn yards to help with cleanup. Local branches of organizations like the Disabled Veterans of America have offered to pitch in with food and clothing donations, and local clothing charity Emmanuel’s Closet has offered to help provide clothes for people who lost their homes and wardrobes to the storm.
About three people were displaced from their damaged homes, Beadle said, and were being taken care of by the Red Cross.
But Beadle warned residents that not all tornado damage is so visible.
Some people double-checking their properties days after the storm noticed damage they hadn’t seen earlier, like shingles torn off portions of a roof that aren’t visible from the street.
“We’ve received probably in the neighborhood of 20 calls this morning from people who had damage that didn’t know they had damage,” he said. “Go out, check your damage, and let us know.”
BOX: Weird stuff people saw
Bradi Fowler lives in Palm Coast’s C-section and found herself driving right into the storm: “I was driving on Belle Terre heading north at about 7 p.m. with my 1-year-old and my 5-year-old in the back seat. The first thing that caught my eye, I guess, was the sparks on the road. Then there were tree limbs and everything flying across the street. ... When I looked back over my shoulder it was gone. That’s how fast it was.
Gene Yavorski, in Palm Coast’s B-section, went outside afer the storm and couldn’t believe what he saw in his neighbor’s yard: “My neighbor has these yellow kayaks. The two kayaks were sitting up on sawhorses, and about two feet away, next to them, was a small tree. The tree was twisted off its trunk. The kayaks weren’t moved from the sawhorses.”
Suzanne Bispo, of the B-section, was in Ocala when the tornado hit. She came home to find tree limbs had punched through her exterior wall, and her golden retriever, Savannah, had a deep cut on her side: “She must have been hurt in the storm,” Bispo said. The pooch has been patched up by a veterinarian and is on antibiotics.
Need help after the storm? Here are some organizations offering assistance:
American Red Cross, Florida’s Coast to Coast Chapter: 226-1400
Palm Coast Building Department (to verify contractors’ licenses): 986-3780
Disabled American Veterans Chapter 86: 429-2122
Emmanuel’s Closet (clothing assistance): contact through Facebook at facebook.com/EmmanuelsCloset
To volunteer or donate to the tornado recovery effort, call Flagler County Volunteer Services at 597-2950.
