RESIDENTS of a caravan park have been given an extra year to raise their homes by 3.5 meters or move.
Those who live in Florida’s Twin City mobile home park say it’s nearly impossible to meet the new demands.
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“It’s impossible,” Jason, a park resident who declined to give his last name, told the local NBC affiliate. WFLA-TV.
“We received a quote of over $100,000 because we would have to move the unit, pour a foundation, put it on stilts and stick it there,” he explained.
“A lot of them don’t accept it because they’re old,” he said.
In March, the county told residents that if their homes were not built, they could lose disaster relief funding.
But Jason says he is choosing to stay and will not take care of his home.
Jason has lived in Twin City for three years and has invested thousands of dollars in his home.
He says he won’t go unless he is compensated for the move.
“There is nothing they can do. It’s just an area we chose,” Jason said.
If that happens, Tampa typically doesn’t get hit by hurricanes, but we make repairs and keep living.”
Jason says he’s prepared to face the consequences of living without assistance in a flood-prone area, although it’s not ideal.
“All the other brick houses in the neighborhood were also flooded, so we just hope the hurricanes stay away from us like they usually do,” he said.
“And when it rains a lot, we deal with it.”
The park, like much of the region, is no stranger to heavy rain and flooding.
On Tuesday, residents experienced a major rain storm, but it was minor compared to some other storms they have seen in recent years.
Hurricane Idalia in 2023 wreaked havoc on Twin City residents.
After the storm, Pinellas County sent a letter to residents ordering their homes to be elevated.
Assistant County Administrator Tom Almonte expressed the county’s continued efforts to support residents.
“As you know, the park is private property,” Almonte said.
“We have repeatedly contacted park management to gain access to the property to host an informational community meeting and also to discuss potential solutions, but have not received a response to date.”
The US Sun reached out to the Twin City mobile home park, owned by Lakeshore MHC, for comment.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
