PANAMA CITY – A year after Hurricane Michael struck North Florida, thousands of Panhandle residents still live in tents, trailers and hotel rooms, homeowners continue to fight their insurance companies over repairs, and children attend school in portable classrooms, flinching every time it thunders. Michael struck Mexico Beach with 155 mph winds and a 15-foot storm surge that swamped beachfront houses and businesses, flattening the gulf resort town. It plowed through the cent

By Michael Moline Joel Schubert still sounds burned up about the wait for U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers to reach people left homeless by Hurricane Michael last October. Two thousand or more households qualified for temporary housing, Schubert recalled. But the trailers didn’t come – at least, not in the numbers required. “By the time the trailers all had arrived, perhaps half the people on the list had been forced into other options,” said Schubert, who is

By: Katie Garwood, Staff Writer Investors can benefit most if they invest in an Opportunity Zone by the end of 2019, said Jim Carras, principal of Carras Community Investment on Thursday. Opportunity Zones, created as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, offer tax breaks designed to spur economic development in economically distressed areas. For investors to gain the maximum tax break of 15%, the investment must be held for seven years and be completed by 2026. If the i

By Will Robinson  – Reporter, Jacksonville Business Journal https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2019/08/22/packed-room-answers-questionwhat-could-opportunity.html With investments in Opportunity Zones expected to heat up over the remainder of 2019, more than a hundred people gathered at JaxUSA's Opportunity Zones Conference on Thursday, learning how the investment process works and where on the First Coast those investments can be made. Opportunity zones, created in

Mexico Beach, Fla. (AP) – The Trump administration is confirming that a U.S. Air Force base in the Florida Panhandle that was devastated by Hurricane Michael will be rebuilt so it can house F-35 fighter jets. Vice President Mike Pence tweeted Tuesday that squadrons of F-35 fighter jets will be based at Tyndall Air Force Base outside Panama City beginning in 2023. The Air Force had previously conducted an evaluation showing Tyndall can accommodate three F-35 squadrons. With 11

On Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the state government has awarded almost  $13 million on Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan for agricultural producers in North Florida hit by Hurricane Michael back in October. DeSantis announced more than 70 applications have been approved from farmers in Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Okaloosa, Wakulla, Walton and Washington Counties. “We remain committed to utilizing all ava

BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - As the first anniversary of Hurricane Michael quickly approaches, Bay District Schools is actively working to keep faculty informed on what depression looks like. Historically, around the first anniversary of a traumatic event, suicide rates spike, so knowing the warning signs is crucial for prevention. Frank Zenere, a School Psychologist for Miami-Dade County Public Schools, said, "The hurricane experience that this area of our state has gone t

Estimated insured losses in Florida from last year’s Hurricane Michael, which pounded the Florida Panhandle with Category 5 winds, have topped $6.9 billion, according to the state Office of Insurance Regulation. As of Friday, estimated insured losses were $6,906,918,311, up about $250 million from a report at the end of June. In all, 148,347 claims had been filed from the devastating hurricane, which made landfall Oct. 10 in Mexico Beach and caused massive damage there, in Pa

Tuesday, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO)announced that $85 million is available to local governments in communities impacted by Hurricane Irma through the Rebuild Florida Infrastructure Repair Program. Hurricane Irma hit the Sunshine State back in September 2017. Local governments will be able to use the funds to restore and improve infrastructure in areas damaged by the hurricane or as match funding for other federal programs to carry out eligible, feder

Jacksonville, FL -  As we near the two year anniversary of Hurricane Irma, we've learned the City of Jacksonville, as well as Clay County, are still waiting to be fully reimbursed by FEMA. FEMA has now approved a little more than $1.7 million for the state of Florida to help Jacksonville cover the costs of rebuilding dunes that were damaged by Irma along a 7-and-a-half mile stretch of beach. The money is also designated to help cover the cost of planting more than a quarter m

Homeowners in flood-prone neighborhoods in Bonita Springs might be able to sell their properties through a voluntary buyout program run by the city. The state has set aside $75 million to buy property impacted by Hurricane Irma in an effort to reduce flood risk, according to a city news release. The block grant is competitive — any local government in Florida can apply for funding. Bonita Springs officials are working to get a share, the city said. The city said it would focu

Flagler County residents with homes that were damaged during Hurricane Irma or are located in high risk areas have until the end of July to sell their property to the government at its assessed pre-storm value. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Voluntary Home Buyout Program is designed to reduce flood risk by allowing local governments to buy residential properties in high flood-risk areas and permanently deed restrict those properties to be maintai

Nearly two years after Hurricane Irma struck Florida, FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has paid more than $1 billion towards 21,949 flood insurance claims by policyholders whose properties were flooded during the historic storm. Although Florida has more NFIP policies in force than any other state, officials continue to urge Florida homeowners, renters and business owners to contact their insurance agent and insure their properties from flooding. The reason is s

PANAMA CITY The air in the heart of Florida’s Panhandle has felt heavy for days, weighed down by Southern humidity and the hazy heat of summer. Familiar thunderstorms, bringing brief downpours, have done little to loosen its grip. But Hurricane Michael survivor Octavia Pullum has felt more brewing in that air lately: It’s fear, brought by a storm passing by in the Gulf of Mexico, which she still feels even though it is moving past the hurricane-scarred region. Pullum, 34, has

Local representatives of the Salvation Army’s Disaster Long Term Recovery program are seeking more clients with unmet needs related to Hurricane Irma, which hit the Golden Isles in September 2017 and left significant damage in its wake. Martha Dismer, emergency disaster service case worker for Salvation Army, reported at a meeting Monday of the Voluntary Organization Active in Disaster (VOAD) of Coastal Georgia that she hopes to aid more local residents who are still dealing

(TNS) — Local representatives of the Salvation Army’s Disaster Long Term Recovery program are seeking more clients with unmet needs related to Hurricane Irma, which hit the Golden Isles in September 2017 and left significant damage in its wake. Martha Dismer, emergency disaster service case worker for Salvation Army, reported at a meeting Monday of the Voluntary Organization Active in Disaster (VOAD) of Coastal Georgia that she hopes to aid more local residents who are still

By Justin Mitchell Why this is important: experts and investors agree community engagement is critical to making the OZ program work. When Grey Dodge and Erin Gillespie were working in the Florida state government, it was their job to select which of the state’s census tracts would become opportunity zones, offering a series of tax breaks to investors who put their money into real estate or businesses within those zones. As Governor Rick Scott’s time as governor wound down,

BY EVAN WILLIAMS: DRIVING IN TO MEXICO BEACH on Highway 98 along the Emerald Coast, its white-sand beaches are as beautiful as ever. But seven months after taking a direct hit from a Category 5 hurricane, this small town in the Florida panhandle looks as if it had been bombed. The surrounding Bay County and residents throughout the panhandle also felt severe effects. Residents attest that life is still far from back to normal. They are struggling to recover their losses, if t