MADEIRA BEACH — After more than 20 years of calling Madeira Beach home, Margaret and Pat Disibio’s condo is now a shell of itself, ravaged by Hurricane Helene's storm surge.

Three months after the flood, their home is still in disrepair as they are among thousands across Pinellas County waiting on permits and the go-ahead to begin to rebuild.
   

"They also said, take out a lease for six months to a year and show them. Send it to them and show them how much we are paying. Five days before we have to leave. How do you do that? How can we get a lease when we don't know whether they're going to help pay us?" she questioned.

Now their calls for speedier permit approval are growing more urgent.

"Bring in some more permit approvers, bring in whatever we need brought in, but let's do something to get these people helped,” Ilona Thompson, another condo owner who’s staying at the hotel, said.

“Where do we go? You know, how do you pay all this extra money when you've got to redo your house for those of us who are allowed to redo our house? It’s a big struggle,” Thompson added.

The city of Madeira Beach says it's been working tirelessly to push permits, issuing more than 717 while another 695 remain under review. Like many municipalities though, it's been a long process, likely due to the sheer volume and to ensure compliance with federal and local codes and regulations.

“We find ourselves stuck in the classic government bureaucracy at this point,” said Bob Langman, who’s staying in the hotel after his home was damaged.

“We're going to run out of time with how much time they're giving us to stay. So if they don't get moving on approving these permits through the municipality, through Madeira Beach, then we're stuck having to find some other way of surviving here,” Langman said.

“There are a lot of people who don't have the means to do that, and I think extending the FEMA coverage for room and board would be the appropriate thing to do because it's their policies that are holding up the permitting process. This could have been done. We could have been done completely reconstructing our place a month ago, but instead, we're still waiting for permits. And that's not a disparaging remark on the city of Madeira, I think they're doing the best they can. It's just reality,” Langman added.

While they hope for permits, they are also hoping FEMA grants them an extension on their temporary living assistance, saying the additional cost of finding a new place to stay while their homes are in disrepair is not feasible.

“There's been some delays with the permits, but nevertheless, it's going to take a number of months, or maybe a year. So an extension will be extremely helpful for me because again, I'm in a wheelchair. Everything [related to finding suitable housing] is more difficult,” said Theodore Todorow, who’s in a wheelchair and has been staying at the same hotel since his home was damaged.

10 Tampa Bay reached out to FEMA to see if they will be extending assistance to people still waiting on permits. They say they review cases every 14 days and list the following reasons why someone would be potentially ineligible:

• Pre-disaster primary residence is deemed safe to occupy through a FEMA inspection.

• The home noted in the applicant’s registration is not the applicant’s primary residence.

• An applicant is linked with another applicant who may be receiving FEMA assistance.

• An inspector was not able to complete a home inspection after three attempts to contact the applicant or the applicant failed to show for one or more inspection appointments.

• The applicant received rental assistance from FEMA.

• The applicant has insurance that provides Additional Living Expenses or Loss of Use coverage or has not submitted documentation to prove they do not have these coverages.

• Failure to comply with the TSA Terms and Conditions.

• The applicant indicated they did not have damage to their primary residence at the time of application.