{"id":282475,"date":"2026-05-24T01:36:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T01:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/282475\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T01:36:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T01:36:30","slug":"program-helping-families-still-recovering-from-2024-storms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/282475\/","title":{"rendered":"Program helping families still recovering from 2024 storms"},"content":{"rendered":"

WIMAUMA, Fla. \u2014 We\u2019re getting close to the start of another hurricane season, but some families are still recovering from the storms of 2024.<\/p>\n

Through one local group, a recovery program is helping residents repair damaged homes while also preparing for the next storm.<\/p>\n

More than two dozen families have received help so far.<\/p>\n

It’s been nearly two years since hurricanes Helene and Milton damaged homes across the state, but although they\u2019re long gone, for families here in Wimauma, recovery is far from over.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see where all the tree stumps are starting to grow back,\u201d says Hildred Burroughs.<\/p>\n

As she walks around her property, Burroughs is reminded every day of the damage left behind by Helene and Milton.<\/p>\n

At the time, Burroughs and her seven grandchildren were preparing to move to Florida with her husband, who was already living here when the hurricanes struck.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just glad he wasn\u2019t hurt. I\u2019m glad we had a building to come back to,” she said.<\/p>\n

Burroughs says heavy rain damaged their septic tank, tore out screen doors and left roof damage that still hasn\u2019t been fully repaired. But help arrived through Enterprising Latinas\u2019<\/a> Disaster Recovery Navigator Program.<\/p>\n

The family received more than $4,000 in assistance to help cover repairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were able to peace meal a lot, and that really came in handy, because you cannot not have a bathroom,” Burroughs said.<\/p>\n

The Burroughs family is one of 27 households that qualified for help through a partnership between Enterprising Latinas and the CDC of Tampa<\/a>, which received disaster recovery funding from the American Red Cross.<\/p>\n

Disaster Recovery Navigator Lisselott Ramirez says the effort started with extensive outreach, including visits to more than 300 households across the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of these families, their roofs were impacted, and many of them still have leaky roofs and damages to the inside of their homes,” she said.<\/p>\n

Beyond the financial assistance, Ramirez says the program focuses on education, providing families with hurricane backpacks, emergency supplies, and disaster preparedness guides.<\/p>\n

It is information Burroughs is already putting to good use as she builds her family\u2019s emergency kit ahead of hurricane season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would I now not follow up to be prepared just in case,” she said.<\/p>\n

Despite the long recovery, she remains optimistic about the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Bible says that you should be content in the position that you find yourself in, why, because it\u2019s not going to be like this always,” she said.<\/p>\n

The center says while not every family qualified for financial help, it wants to continue to provide that education to all families.<\/p>\n

The CDC of Tampa is hosting a disaster recovery resource event on May 27 in St. Petersburg, where residents can connect with experts and learn more about what help is available.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WIMAUMA, Fla. \u2014 We\u2019re getting close to the start of another hurricane season, but some families are still…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[274,17174,276,3125,1802,6076,115,139,12166,135,137,136,278,835,17175],"class_list":["post-282475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-app-top-stories","tag-app-weather-stories","tag-hillsborough-county","tag-hurricane-helene","tag-hurricane-milton","tag-lizbeth-gutierrez","tag-news","tag-orlando","tag-storm-season","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-top-stories","tag-vod","tag-weather-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}