APOPKA, Fla. – About a month ago, anchor Matt Austin and a team at News 6 set out on a mission to get results — in real-time — for someone in need.
We met Brittany Wedgewood. Her husband and their three daughters were dealing with damage from Hurricane Milton. The family lives in a mobile home, and after the storm hit water was getting into nearly every room through their leaking roof.
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Wedgewood said she reached out to FEMA. She sent them quotes and all kinds of information for the costly repairs, and she said they told her they couldn’t do what she desperately needed to be done.
When our News 6 team reached out, Wedgewood couldn’t believe it. Soon enough our cameras and a crew from BFARR Contracting were at her home surveying the property.
[RELATED: News 6 helps Orange County family impacted by Hurricane Milton | ‘I feel like somebody:’ News 6 gets real-time results, helps family after Hurricane Milton]
Monday, we returned to see the repairs finally underway.
Wedgewood said her family spent time staying in other places immediately after the storm, but money ran out and they’ve been back in their mobile home.
“Every time it rains it’s pouring into my hallway, my daughter’s room, my room and bathroom,” said Wedgewood. “All of our walls are starting to mold.”
Wedgewood says as a mother, it makes it even harder.
“It kind of sucks because it feels like I can’t provide what they need, but I don’t think anyone has $15,000 sitting in a bank account,” said Wedgewood.
When the crew showed up from BFARR Contracting Monday morning Wedgewood said she almost couldn’t believe it.
[RELATED: Real-time results: Navigating disaster recovery for mobile homeowners]
“I kind of thought they were going to go, ‘Oh, never mind they can’t fix it,’ because that is what everyone else said when they got on the roof. But, they’re here and they’re fixing it,” said Wedgewood,
Mike Thomas, who works with B-Farr Contracting, told News 6 reporter Catherine Silver the roof is in bad shape. They can give Wedgewood and her family a temporary fix with donated materials and their donated time.
“We’re applying a mastic on all of the seams and around the pipes to seal anything up that could be leaking,” said Thomas.
Our team watched as they started putting down a base coat. Once they’re done, Thomas says the Wedgewoods will no longer have water leaking in for at least 5 to 10 years.
“It’s definitely worth it, trying to help people out,” said Thomas. “I’m glad we could do something for her just to get her by.”
Wedgewood says her family thought they would have to pack up and leave the home they put their all into, but now they can turn the page after checking a huge task off of their to-do list.
“We were looking at places we just can’t afford to move, so we were going to end up probably homeless if this couldn’t get fixed,” said Wedgewood. “Now, we’ve got our home back.”
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