St. Pete Homeowners Left in Limbo: Is City Hall Dragging Its Feet on Hurricane Repairs?
A Year Later, Families Are Still Waiting
One year after Hurricane Helene tore through St. Petersburg, recovery remains uneven. While some neighborhoods are rebuilt, many families are still staring at blue tarps and broken walls — not because they cannot afford the repairs, but because the city has not issued permits.
At last week’s City Council meeting, frustrated residents such as Eilleen Carry spoke out. A tree crushed her home during Hurricane Milton, and after 21 weeks she is still waiting on paperwork to even begin repairs. “We want our house back to normal. We’ve been patiently waiting,” she told council members.
Promises Versus Reality
Mayor Ken Welch has repeatedly promised relief. Back in March he assured residents the backlog would be cleared. By August, homeowners were still waiting. Now, as of the one-year anniversary of Helene, Welch says review times will return to “blue sky” levels by the end of this month.
The concern is that city officials still will not disclose how many permits are pending.
A Numbers Game Without Transparency
The mayor points to 14,500 permits issued since the storms, highlighting staff shortages and high demand across the Southeast. Yet without clarity on the number of families still stuck in limbo, those statistics feel more like political spin than actual progress.
How many people are still living under tarps? How many children are sleeping in half-repaired homes? The silence from City Hall is deafening.
The Human Cost of Bureaucratic Delays
This is not just about red tape. It is about roofs, walls, and lives. Families who have waited nearly a year to rebuild are paying out of pocket for temporary housing, losing money every month, and risking safety in storm-damaged structures.
If the city wants to celebrate progress, it must start with accountability.