CENTRAL FLORIDA – In the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, News 6 anchor Matt Austin on Monday is leading a crew with one mission: to solve someone’s problem, hopefully that day!
Austin and the team are in Apopka after Hurricane Milton ripped through the region. Originally, the team considered going to Pine Hills to provide help, but the mission was moved because Milton created more places that needed immediate assistance.
What issue did the team discover? Read the entries below as we provide constant updates to the process of trying to get results -- in one day.’
5:59 p.m.
BFARR crews were able to plug one hole near the roof to prevent other water damage, but recommended an engineer visit the home to get a better understanding of the damage.
BFARR Contracting is looking into the possibility of helping the Wedgewoods with a silicon roof which would cut down on costs and time.
‘I feel like somebody,” Brittany Wedgewood said.
3:37 p.m.
News 6′s Brianna Ellis gives tips on how to navigate disaster recovery for mobile homeowners, including how to proceed if you own the home, but rent the land and how to navigate FEMA assistance.
3:07 p.m.
News 6′s Brianna Ellis tells us more about the Wedgewood family, whose Orange County mobile home was damaged from Hurricane Milton.
Since Milton made landfall, the Wedgewood family have been in a state of upheaval, moving from one hotel to another.
3 p.m.
“She loves apples.”
The fridge is packed to the brim with produce, meat and snacks.
Brittany and her family had been relying on a friend for occasional deliveries of rotisserie chicken to get them through the month. Now, they have options.
Her youngest loves fruit and was happily biting into an apple as Brittany left to pick up her husband from work.
Watch News 6 from 4-6 p.m. to hear Matt share the first Getting Results in Real Time story live from the Wedgewood home.
2:30 p.m.
Getting results is difficult when there’s a hole in a roof, but the News 6 team knew about one way to help the Wedgewood family in real time.
After a phone call with Light Orlando, boxes of groceries arrived at the Wedgewood’s doorstep. It’s a small Band Aid, but Brittany says it’s a big help for her family.
As for the leaky roof, BFARR Contracting will send out an engineer in the coming days to check out the damage.
We plan to follow up with Brittany and her situation soon after.
1:30 p.m.
It’s raining in Apopka.
Brian Farr, of BFARR Contracting, plugged a small pipe that was allowing water inside the home, so we’re hoping this small rain shower won’t be enough to leak through the Wedgewood family’s roof.
1:15 p.m.
Any homeowner knows replacing a roof is expensive but without insurance, it can be completely unaffordable.
Brittany and her family could eventually face a big decision: spend thousands of dollars to replace the roof or spend thousands of dollars to relocate the home to a different community where renting a lot is more affordable.
Until we know what’s fixable with the roof, the Wedgewood family is hoping to get by with help from FEMA and SNAP benefits.
12:45 p.m.
“That can’t be good.”
That’s what Brian Farr, of BFARR Contracting, said as he lowered his foot several inches into the roof of Brittany’s mobile home. Words you never want to hear when your family already is struggling to make ends meet.
Here’s one positive update, our friends at Light Orlando are coming through for the Wedgwood family.
We’ll have an announcement soon.
12:16 p.m.
We knew from the beginning that Getting Results in Real Time would be a fluid project and a learning experience, and Brittany’s case is certainly all of the above.
Brian Farr is sending an engineer in the coming days who will assess the next steps for her roof. We’re happy to report that BFARR will cover the cost of that inspection.
In the meantime, the Wedgewood family needs some help stocking the fridge with healthy meals.
News 6 is making some calls to have food delivered as soon as Monday afternoon!
Check back and we’ll let you know what happens.
11:43 a.m.
A sheet of ripped clear plastic covers the entire roof of Brittany’s family home, and it’s clear to BFARR President Brian Farr that further inspection will be needed to understand the scope of the damage.
Despite all this, Brittany told us she’s trying to stay positive.
With no home insurance and restrictive neighborhood rules on temporary tarps, Brittany’s in a tough spot.
We’re formulating a plan to get results and provide some items to help the Wedgewood family get by in the interim.
11:35 a.m.
Here’s a photo of Brittany’s mobile home, which was damaged by Hurricane Milton.
Matt and BFARR are assessing the situation to see what can be done.
10:40 a.m.
Meet Brittany Wedgewood. She and her young daughter have been hotel-hopping since Hurricane Milton created leaks in the roof of her mobile home.
But the problem is even bigger than that. The leaks have allowed water into the home. A loss of power during the storm left the food in the fridge rotten. And because of the complex nature of replacing her roof, help has been hard to find.
Matt and the team are absorbing all the facts and working to get something done as soon as possible.
10:20 a.m.
The Getting Results in Real Time team is on the road!
Here’s one consensus among the crew: replacing the roof of a mobile home is more complicated than we’d thought.
We’re about to meet up with a viewer and the BFARR Contracting team in Apopka to figure out what can be done to get results.
Keep checking back for updates.
7:40 a.m.
Matt joined Breakfast with Bridgett ahead of the big day to talk about what we hope to achieve with the real-time results mission.
Ahead of that, Austin sat down to answer some questions about what viewers — and Austin himself — can expect from the project.
Q1: Tell us a little bit about this project you’re doing.
“We had a crazy idea. We pride ourselves on getting results. That's what we do. So we decided: how could we push the limits of that? What if we randomly get results for someone that day?
The news tends to be slow. Some of our stories can — it can take a couple of weeks to put them together. Many of them are day-of, but it takes a long time to get results. In this case, we want to see if we can go out randomly, find someone, get results for them. Maybe it gets all fixed that day. Maybe it's a little messier, and it takes a little while, and we follow along.
The goal is to have a process that is documented throughout the day, online and on broadcast. It's going to be complicated. Nobody's done things like this before, but we're excited."
News 6 Anchor Matt Austin
Q2: Walk us through it. What’s that day going to look like?
“We’re going to go out to an undisclosed location (at this point), and we’re going to meet people with a camera. And I’m going to go up to them, and I’m going to ask, ‘How can I get results for you today?’
If they don’t need anything — maybe they say they’re good. ‘Was there anybody in your family who needs something? Is there anybody around here?’ We’re gonna hunt down.
My goal that day is to find a problem and help somebody fix that problem. Now, what does that mean? I have no idea. That’s the terrifying thing — and the exciting thing.”
News 6 Anchor Matt Austin
Q3: Is there a timeline for this? Are you planning to do this all in one day?
“It’s one day. I’m gonna go in the morning, and we’re gonna go to this place. We’ve got a team of people. We’ve got people who can research. I have a small amount of money dedicated to this from the station, and we’re just going to put the powerful WKMG to the test. Can we help somebody in about 12 hours?
We’re going to find out. I don’t know what the answer is. Maybe we won’t. Maybe we’ll fail and fall flat on our faces. But I think we’re going to be able to do this!”
News 6 Anchor Matt Austin
Q4: You seem pretty excited about this. Is that why you’re taking the lead?
“This is kind of my jam. I love when you go out to do a story and you’re worried that it’s not going to work out. It taps into my hunter-gatherer phase; it’s a good part of my brain.
You go out on the hunt. You don’t know what you’re going to get. Hopefully, at the end of the day, we have this big, beautiful prize where we help somebody out. And maybe helping this person out will lead to our viewers seeing how it happened. Maybe they’re struggling with the same issues, and maybe we can help them, as well.”
News 6 Anchor Matt Austin
Q5: What do you expect will happen?
“I don’t know. I could end up fixing something at somebody’s house. I could end up helping somebody with their relationship. If they’re having a problem with bills, we could help call the place. You know, I don’t know. I don’t know what’s gonna happen. I don’t even know what to expect. I’m hesitant to (guess), expecting one thing, because I think it’s probably going to be way different.”
News 6 Anchor Matt Austin
Q6: Let’s say you can’t fix the problem in just one day. Will you call it quits or keep going?
“Do you think I would ever quit!? (Laughs)
Now, I am going to try like hell to make this happen in one day, but if for some reason I meet a problem that takes longer than that, we’re going to do everything we can. And then, we’re going to follow up and follow up until we get some sort of resolution.”
News 6 Anchor Matt Austin
Q7: While this is all going on, how can folks stay updated on what’s happening?
“We’re gonna have our own web page on ClickOrlando.com, where people can follow along with this. It is gonna be all over our social media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram. It’ll be easy to follow — you can’t miss it!”
News 6 Anchor Matt Austin
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