ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – People living at an Orange County apartment complex devastated by flooding from Hurricane Ian are now being told they will have to leave their homes by the end of the month, according to Orange County Commissioner Mayra Uribe
Uribe spoke at Cypress Landing Apartments complex Tuesday afternoon, nearly a week after it was hit by Hurricane Ian.
The commissioner said many of the people living there have now been told they needed to “be out” by Oct. 31.
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“We’re talking over 200 families they’re trying to displace without options, without any financial help to put them somewhere else, without any assistance to help them relocate,” she said. “But just told they have to go.”
The commissioner said the entire first floor of the home complex, located near Oak Ridge High School was under water after Ian tore through Central Florida.
“When you went back, you saw all the trash and all the debris,” Uribe said.
Piles of furniture, clothing and other personal belongings damaged by the flood waters now sit in heaps outside of the homes there.
“The water started going up, going up, going up,” Lacaro Rodriguez, a resident at Cypress Landing, said. “It flooded my apartment. It reached my knee. Everything is lost.”
Rodriguez added that the owner of the property told him he has to “get out of here.”
“We are hurt. That’s not right,” the man said.
Uribe said she had reached out to the property management company, though she hadn’t been able to get in contact with them. The Orange County Property Appraiser’s website lists the company as Professional Management, Inc.
“We cannot allow these people to lose their homes,” Uribe said. “That cannot be our only option.”
She also said she and others would help community members with Federal Emergency Management Agency applications for assistance.
“One of the things we have a problem with: They’re sending FEMA agents out here who aren’t even bilingual,” Uribe said. “Most of the individuals here speak Spanish only.”
According to Uribe, members of the Salvation Army had arrived at the complex to help provide meals and resources to victims.
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