TAMPA, Fla. — What’s left of Felix Figueruelo’s parents’ belongings is in a pod on their front porch.

“They want to get back into their house,” he said.

What You Need To Know

  • Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen says the county was promised $709 million in federal funds for storm-related relief expenses

  • Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa commissioned a study to investigate flooding during recent back-to-back hurricanes

  • While they await the results and storm season draws closer, residents in the Pinecrest-Leto neighborhood are concerned

  • Engineering consultant Black and Veatch received $500,000 for its flood investigation covering all county cities, neighboring counties, departments, and stakeholders. Meetings with storm victims will take place in the coming weeks

It’s been four months since their home was flooded during Hurricane Milton.

“I told them, 'I will come in the morning to get you,'” he said. “'You don’t have to worry about anything.' Little did I know that I was boarding them up for this disaster to occur.”

 The National Guard assisted in evacuating his parents.

“This is the line of the water level in the house,” said Figueruelo. “We moved into this house when I was 10 years old.”

Figueruelo says the flooding was unexpected, as the area is not classified as a flood zone, according to FEMA. They are still dealing with all that they’ve lost, including 50 years’ worth of family photos and recordings.

 “We had to get not only mold remedial, but we had to get biohazard remediation because we had feces coming into the house,” he said.

His parents took out a home equity loan to rebuild. Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen says the county was promised $709 million in federal funds for storm-related relief expenses.

“The issue is, of course, it's a promise,“ said Cohen. “And so, it requires adhering to federal rules and being reimbursed for expenses once the plans are approved. So, getting it to move fast is going to be a challenge.“

Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa commissioned a study to investigate flooding during recent back-to-back hurricanes.

“But the good news is, once we have the results of the study, we will also have resources to implement the things that the study points to that we can do better,” said Cohen.

While they await the results and storm season draws nearer, Figueruelo says residents in this Pinecrest-Leto neighborhood are concerned.

“They worried about if this happens again, what's next?” said Figueruelo.

So they’re hoping to have a plan in place on time.

“A lot of people don’t have a positive attitude or comments towards this subdivision really bouncing back. There are houses on the first street that got flooded. That really got hit hard. People just walked away,” he said.

Engineering consultant Black and Veatch received $500,000 for its flood investigation covering all county cities, neighbouring counties, departments, and stakeholders.

Meetings with storm victims will take place in the coming weeks.