Fort Lauderdale is sitting on $12.4 million in flood recovery grants meant to help homeowners still reeling from the catastrophic April 2023 storm, but only 241 people have applied for the money. The gap between available funds and actual applicants has left city officials and residents alike wondering why so many eligible homeowners are leaving assistance on the table.
According to CBS News, Fort Lauderdale is offering the $12.4 million in flood recovery grants, but the response has been thin. Fort Lauderdale homeowners are eligible for the grant funding, which is meant to help repair damage from the storm that dumped more than two feet of rain on the city in April 2023. Anthony O'Gorman, whose Edgewood home sustained about $80,000 in damage during the flood, told the outlet that fear is keeping many of his neighbors away from the application. “People are afraid to apply for the money,” O'Gorman said, per the same report.
Why Homeowners Are Hesitant
O'Gorman's neighbors worry that home inspections tied to the grant process could lead to higher property tax assessments or fines for unpermitted repairs made in the aftermath of the flood, the station's report notes. That concern persists even though Fort Lauderdale inspectors examine only flood-related damage during the process, according to the CBS Miami account. Rachel Williams, the city's housing and community development manager, said the grant program is actually built to address exactly that fear. “The grant can help with unpermitted work,” Williams said, per the report. The flood recovery grant covers after-the-fact permits and the cost of bringing unpermitted repairs up to code, and homeowners receiving grant assistance owe no out-of-pocket expenses for that covered work.
The program traces back to the storm that soaked Fort Lauderdale with more than two feet of rain in April 2023. The city previously described the event as dropping more than 26 inches of rain within 12 hours, according to a statement on the city's website, while Axios cited National Weather Service data putting the two-day total at 25.87 inches. The storm damaged more than 1,100 homes citywide, including 766 with major flood damage, according to USA Today.
A Cumbersome Process
The grant program is funded through the federal Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program, according to a city bulletin distributed through GovDelivery. The planned assistance includes home rehabilitation and reconstruction, reimbursement for eligible flood-related expenses, and other recovery and mitigation activities, the same bulletin states. Eligibility depends on household income, documented flood-related damage, and prior assistance already received through insurance or other programs.
Fort Lauderdale was separately allocated $88,051,000 in federal CDBG-DR funds tied to the 2023 flood, according to the Sun Sentinel, and the broader assistance program is expected to serve approximately 270 households, Axios reported. For Edgewood resident Corrina Montes, the paperwork involved in seeking help has been its own ordeal. Montes paid $58,000 out of pocket for home repairs and described the application process as exhausting, telling CBS News the process is cumbersome. She said her case manager has repeatedly required paperwork to be redone and demanded contact with FEMA and the Small Business Administration for every page submitted. Still, Montes considers applying worthwhile if it means recouping some of her financial losses.
Outreach and Comparisons Elsewhere
The city has tried to ease the burden by offering in-person and mobile outreach events for residents without internet access or those who want hands-on help completing applications, according to the GovDelivery bulletin. Residents seeking grant details or application materials can visit Fort Lauderdale's Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery page for more information.
Fort Lauderdale's struggle to get homeowners to apply echoes a pattern seen elsewhere in South Florida. In Palm Beach County, eligible low-income homeowners may get up to $100,000 for major home repairs, including safety and storm-protection work, according to The Cool Down. That county has committed $4 million in State Housing Initiatives Partnership funding to its Owner-Occupied Housing Rehabilitation Program, though officials there plan to select only 50 applications through a random drawing. The Palm Beach County program also covers code-violation corrections and hurricane-hardening improvements such as impact windows and doors.
