REDINGTON BEACH, Fla. – The storms are long gone, but in Pinellas County, the path to recovery feels out of reach, especially for homeowners.
Months after back-to-back hurricanes slammed Florida’s Gulf Coast, residents face red tape, delays, and confusion as many wonder when and if things will return to normal.
“It’s just this vacant lot… ready but waiting to go through this complete permitting process,” said Jenn Greacen, who has lived in the area since the 1970s. “This is the causeway I would ride my bike home as a kid. Yeah, this is home.”
In the tightly-knit neighborhood of Redington Beach, many homeowners remain in somewhat of a purgatory. Some, like Greacen’s sister, lost theirs to Hurricane Helene. Now Greacen’s fighting for others in similar situations through a group she founded: Rescue Pinellas.
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“Most of the people who live out here, these single-level homes that you see around us, they’re lived in by people who bought these houses 40, 50 years ago,” she said. “They’re retired police officers, they’re teachers.”
Greacen says bureaucratic gridlock is behind the slow pace of recovery.
“What is lacking and what is a strangulation has been FEMA, insurance, and the bureaucracy,” she said. “It’s really handcuffed townships with all these small municipalities, unable to keep the communication straight for residents to know what they need to do in order to rebuild.”
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Somewhat inland, damage still remains.
Ron Snouffer, a public adjuster for the state of Florida says he’s seen several cases stall due to insurance delays and a shortage of license contractors.
“We have a property that had a tree fall on it, and we’re nine months out from the storm,” Snouffer said. “They’re still trying to recover and get back to normal. They’ve got a building that’s vacant because they can’t fix it.”
Snouffer says many property owners want to clean up, but the sheer number of storms claims has slowed the process.
Back on the coast, Greace says conflicting instructions from local governments is one of the biggest culprits behind the setbacks.
“You’ve got every township with their own code. And then those codes are changing,” she said. “And then the next stage they come back and say, no, no, wait, we’re backing that up.”
Meanwhile, in Madeira Beach, businesses like Hubbard’s Marina were able to bounce back quickly.
“The only way to handle it? Momentum. One foot in front of the other,” said Captain Dylan Hubbard, who owns the marina.
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“We were able to open up and start running trips just five days after Helene,” he said. “And we were all feeling so good and happy, like, hey, we did it. And then here comes Milton.”
The second storm temporarily shut down business, but the team reopened shortly after.
“We were really motivated as a Hubbard’s Marina family to get back open quickly so we could get those people back to work, get their minds off what they went through, and help them make financial income to then recover,” Hubbard said.
Still, anxiety is high now that a new hurricane season is underway.
“It’s this delicate balance and this tightrope that we’ve been walking,” said Hubbard. Yes, the area received complete, utter devastation and tragedy, but we are recovering. There are things to do. There are places that are back open. So come down and visit.”
Hubbard also sits on the Pinellas County Tourism Development Council and says local tourism is essential not just for businesses, but for families trying to bounce back.
“We need the economic recovery to help boost the residential recovery,” he said. “Help people get back to work, make money, and recover personally as well. Our area is open. Most of the hotels are back open. And really, tourism is the economic engine of our area.”
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