More than a year after hurricanes Idalia and Helene battered St. Petersburg, thousands of storm survivors can now apply for long-awaited federal disaster recovery assistance, city officials announced.
The program, called Sunrise St. Pete, is backed by nearly $160 million in federal Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The money is designed to help residents repair, rebuild or recover from storm-related damage that previous aid did not fully cover.
For applicants like Johnnie Poole, the opening of the program marks a long-awaited turning point…