Tampa to provide $3.2 million for hurricane victims

By Breanne Williams – Reporter, Tampa Bay Business Journal

Feb 7, 2025

Flooding in North Tampa - Luis Viera

Tampa will be providing $3.2 million for victims of hurricanes Helene and Milton. City council unanimously approved allocating $3.2 million in State Housing Initiatives Partnership funds for income-eligible households. Households could be eligible for up to $20,000. The funds can be used for mortgage assistance, home repair reimbursements and insurance deductible aid.

The funds will go toward families making 140% of the area median income or less. In total, 30% of the funds will go to those making 50% AMI or less, 30% will go to those making 80% AMI or less and the remaining 40% will go to those making 140% AMI or less.

That breaks down to annual incomes between $33,450 and $93,660.

Abbye Feeley, Tampa’s development and economic opportunity administrator, said the city hopes to open a portal for residents to apply by March 15. She assured council that it would be up and running no later than April 1.

Councilmember Luis Viera said he believes this should just be the start of the city’s commitment to residents. Viera represents North Tampa, which faced severe flooding during Hurricane Milton He said he “has a chip on his shoulder” about North Tampa, which he feels is often not given the respect that other parts of the city do.

“This area took an unanticipated hit right in the face and it took us 125 days to here for $3 million,” Viera said. “So, if I’m a little bit emotional about that, if I have a chip on my shoulder about that, you know what? I’ve got cause.”

Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera and Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen held a press conference highlight the recovery efforts 120 days after Hurricane Milton.

Viera and county Commissioner Harry Cohen held a press conference in Forest Hills Friday morning to highlight the hurricane victim recovery efforts 120 days after Hurricane Milton. Residents impacted by the storms spoke of their hardships, many of whom are paying a mortgage on a house they can no longer live in and simultaneously paying rent while they wait for repairs to be completed.

Feeley told council they had spent quite a bit of time talking to residents and hope the $3 million would help lessen the burden caused by the storms. Councilmember Bill Carlson said the $3 million simply wasn’t enough.

“Even if we pay to renovate people’s homes, the floods are going to come right back,” Carlson said. “We’ve got to fix the underlying problems.”

The county is undergoing an independent analysis to determine if Hillsborough is prepared to handle another significant storm.

Global engineering procurement and consulting firm Black & Veatch is performing an independent assessment of the back-to-back arrivals of hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024 to see if anything could have been handled differently to prevent the widespread, unprecedented flooding.