TAYLOR COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) — Saturday marked two years since Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Taylor County. Many families there still have not fully recovered.
- Many Taylor county neighbors say they have had to wait months and even years to go back to their homes.
- Residents are living in rental homes, small campers, or with relatives, often in crowded conditions.
- With few contractors available, repair work is slow, and families feel stuck in limbo.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
It's been two years since Hurricane Idalia tore through Taylor County, leaving homes, businesses, and entire families facing an uphill climb.
I'm checking in with neighbors who are still fighting to rebuild, navigating insurance battles, and trying to make home feel like home again.
Idalia made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane, with winds topping 125 miles-per-hour slamming Taylor County head-on.
Entire communities along the coast, from Perry to Steinhatchee, took a direct hit.
Hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed.
I went to Taylor County to check on neighbors who've called Dekle Beach home for generations.
"Living on the coast, you know what you're signing up for. Knowing with hurricanes and storms and things like that, and then just a constant rebuilding. You know, in my lifetime, this will be the second time we've rebuilt our house completely. You know, we had major damage down at the beaches and had to completely rebuild, and then after Idalia, Debbie, and Helene, we're doing it again," said Hope Webb.
Her family's home in Dekle Beach took on four feet of water during Idalia wiping out the entire bottom floor, including their laundry room and living space.
Then came Tropical Storm Debby and Hurricane Helene.
Helene pushed nearly 19 feet of water inside her house.
"It's been a constant battle. People were just finally starting to recover from Idalia when Helene hit, and so a lot of that rebuilding got undone very quickly," said Web.
Now, Webb says the hardest fight isn't against the storms. It's against the insurance companies.
" They're telling us there was no damage or that this is, you know, $10,000 worth of damage when it's $100,000. The amount that they're willing to say damaged our home versus the quotes that we're getting for repairs are 200% different," said Webb.
And just down the road, neighbors Jared and Monica Hunt are facing the same uphill climb.
They own a gas station and convenience store—one of the few still left serving this part of Taylor County.
Hurricane Helene completely wiped them out.
It took until April before they even had power back.
And now, county rules are forcing them to rebuild 17 feet in the air or fight for a rare exemption.
"Probably 75 to 80 percent or more of the houses that were here are gone. So it's going to take some time for all that to come back," said Hunt
Hope tells me it'll be another six to eight months before her family can move back home, with all the remodeling they're forced to do and limited contractors to get it done.
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