PORT ORANGE, Fla. – Port Orange resident Kellie Millwater thought she had finally turned a corner after surviving Hurricane Ian in September 2022.
“My roof had damage all along the back of the house,” Millwater said. “My house filled with mold basically from the floorboard up to the ceiling.”
She said the storm left her home unlivable. The mold infestation was so severe that her house had to be torn down.
As someone living on full disability, Millwater turned to Transform386 – a federally funded program designed to help Volusia County residents recover from the storm. Through the program, her old home was demolished, and a new prefabricated one was trucked in and set up on her property.
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But what followed, she says, was a new disaster – this time, delivered in a box.
“I’ve had all my belongings in a PODS unit, and it leaked,” Millwater told News 6.
As part of the Transform386 program, Millwater was supplied with a mini storage container to hold her household items during construction. The container was from the company PODS, a popular moving and storage company that will drop off a portable storage unit, let the customer pack it up, and either leave the container on site or store it in one of their warehouses.
The PODS container that Millwater used sat in her driveway for four months. It was intended to keep her possessions safe during the home rebuild, but when she opened it, Millwater said she found soaked boxes, ruined furniture, moldy clothes, and even a mattress that was beyond saving.
“That’s my mattress and that’s water dripping out of it,” she said as we went through pictures of her damaged items.
Millwater told News 6 that a lot of her personal items were gone.
“My furniture was destroyed,” she explained. “I had clothing destroyed, linens, curtains, bedspreads, blankets, all that was destroyed.” She added “It’s depressing. I lost family pictures.”
In total, Millwater estimates a loss of more than $14,000.
The soaked and moldy contents, once unpacked, were too far gone to salvage and eventually left for the garbage trucks. When asked what it was like seeing her belongings set out on the curb like trash, Millwater replied, “It was hard.”
Millwater’s rental is classified by PODS as an ‘O’ rental, named as such for On-Site Storage. Alternatively, PODS also offers a more costly ‘S’ rental which is a Storage Center Rental. The price is higher because after PODS makes the initial delivery of the container, the company will then pick it up, store it in their warehouse, deliver it again, and once the customer is done with the unit, pick it up once more.
Millwater told News 6 that she asked for PODS to pick up her container not once, but twice. The first time was after she had packed the unit and the second was right before Hurricane Milton.
“They didn’t have room, is what they initially told me,” she said (when asked about the first request for a pick-up). Millwater asked PODS again for a pickup right before Hurricane Milton came through Volusia County. “I asked them again to remove it. That’s when they said we don’t have a room, we don’t have time.”
PODS sent News 6 a statement regarding Kellie’s situation. For transparency, we are publishing the full statement we initially received:
“Thank you again for reaching out. We want to provide you with some background for your reference.
Lemoine Disaster Recovery, LLC rented a PODS container to be placed at Kellie Millwater’s residence during a restoration project. Restoration companies often use PODS containers to store equipment or household items while work is underway.
The day before Hurricane Milton made landfall, we received a request to pick up the container. At that time, our local operations had already been paused to allow our associates time to prepare for their own safety ahead of the storm.
As you likely already know, Ms. Millwater’s residence is in an area vulnerable to flooding. While PODS containers are weather-resistant, items inside a container will likely not remain dry when the surrounding property is flooded.
The container passed a water test, and no leaks were reported before or after its use at Ms. Millwater’s property. It has since been returned to service, and no further concerns have been reported.
We encourage Ms. Millwater to contact her homeowners [sic] insurance provider to explore options for filing a claim.”
PODS
Of note in this initial statement is that PODS infers Millwater’s property was damaged by flood waters (there was no flooding on her property) and they made no mention of the first request Millwater made for pickup. We asked for clarification but have not received a response before publication.
Despite Millwater’s photos showing clear water damage, PODS maintains the unit passed inspection and did not leak. Millwater is very clear who she thinks is to blame for her situation.
“I think it’s PODS. It was [the] PODS that leaked, it was PODS that destroyed my furniture, and it was PODS that hasn’t paid up,” she said.
“They said it’s not their problem… they said it didn’t leak,” she told us. “I have pictures which were sent to them, and they said when it was empty and they took it off the unit, they put water on it and it didn’t leak… They tested it, but they didn’t test it in front of anybody.”
Millwater believes PODS has shifted responsibility and minimized her complaints to avoid liability.
“Tell me all these pictures are not from a leak,” Millwater said. “How did the pod get wet on the inside – that doesn’t make sense to me for them to say it didn’t.”
We asked Millwater if she would recommend PODS.
“No, I would not,” she replied.