PORT ORANGE, Fla. – A Volusia County couple has finally returned to their new home after being displaced by the 2022 hurricanes.
The couple, whose home was flooded, was able to get help from the county’s Transform 386 program, to rebuild from the ground up on their property in Port Orange.
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Their home marks the county’s first complete teardown and rebuild as part of the Transform 386 initiative following the 2022 hurricanes. It was a big homecoming for the couple, who had waited two and a half years to return to their house.
“Totally overwhelming. Totally unbelievable. It’s just... There’s no words,” said Leo LaLiberte, upon returning home.
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The LaLibertes’ Port Orange home was flooded during Hurricane Ian in 2022. Having moved to the area just a couple of years prior from the north, they were unaware of the necessity for flood insurance.
“When we got flooded, because it was water damage, we had no personal property coverage, so we lost everything,” said Debie LaLiberte.
FEMA funding would have required the retired couple to spend thousands of their own money.
“We were going to have to come up with a significant amount of money and we’re retired, you can’t just say we’ll make it back over 20 years,” Debie explained.
Facing the aftermath of three storms and losing nearly everything, the couple found hope with the Transform 386 program.
They applied for the program, which uses a federal grant the county received for victims of Hurricane Ian.
“We’ve got about 500 or 600 that are in the works. We’ve had over 1,200 applications but some of those have dropped out or aren’t moving forward or weren’t qualified,” said Dona Bulter, the county’s Director of Recovery and Resiliency.
The program has some tough qualifications, including income thresholds, a five-year lien on the home, and proof that the damage was caused by Hurricane Ian. However, it can assist in rebuilding, renovating, or even refunding if work is already completed.
The county hopes to soon roll out a similar program for victims of Hurricane Milton.
“We received notice for funding coming from Hurricane Milton. It’s still been up and down whether that is still going to come through but at this point we’re moving forward like it has and we’re working on creating an action plan for that,” said Bulter.
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