Troy York, our FEMA media representative, has been doing this job when called upon for 17 years.
He said he can’t recall back-to-back hurricanes, or a season as active as we’ve seen with Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton bringing destruction to Southwest Florida.
Sure, Hurricane Ian may have been worse overall — but three in a few short weeks have left us all dazed and confused.
York lives in Sarasota so he knows a little bit about Florida and hurricanes. He is a reserve FEMA worker who is called out when there is a disaster.
He had some good advice for people concerning how to get FEMA to help pay for their damages. He said FEMA will help the insured, underinsured, the uninsured and even renters.
The key is getting registered for help as soon as you can. Locally that means going to the recovery center, either in Englewood at the Tringali Center, 3450 N. Access Road, or in Sarasota at the Exhibition Center, 801 N. Tamiami Trail.
“Even if you don’t think your damage is bad, register because you can always come back later and tell us ‘Hey, I just found more damage,’” York said.