HURRICANE IAN

Seven months after hurricanes Ian and Nicole battered Volusia County, a handful of residents are a step closer to preventing their homes from flooding when the next storm hits.

In September of 2022, Hurricane Ian flooded homes all across Central Florida, from the coast inland, forcing many to evacuate their homes.

Getting ready for hurricane season means more than just making plans for your own home. It also includes first responders practicing what they need to do.

An engineering firm was hired by the city for $58,000 to conduct a study, evaluating storm water regulations, maintenance practices and the impact of recent construction.

Maureen Kotch and Lucille Bishop have been living a rollercoaster of emotions ever since Hurricane Ian devastated Central Florida, having to start from scratch well into their 70s.

As the start of hurricane season gets closer, so many people in Central Florida are still dealing with damage from last year’s storms.

During hurricanes, and even thunderstorms, it’s common for homes and businesses to lose power.

With Hurricane season less than two weeks away, Seminole County is taking action to help some families still dealing with the aftermath of the storms last year.

It's been seven months since Hurricane Ian hit Central Florida, and a Kissimmee family is still struggling to get on their feet while waiting for assistance from FEMA.

Don Phaneuf considers himself one of the lucky homeowners on Stone Island, a community on the north side of Lake Monroe near Deltona. Water came close to his home after Hurricane Ian, but never inside.

A large mound of sand staged at Coconut Point Park on Monday appeared to be where Brevard County said it’s pausing work on a multi-million dollar beach renourishment project because of rough weather conditions.

A new study says changes in air patterns as the world warms will likely push more and nastier hurricanes up against the United States’ east and Gulf coasts.

Nearly eight months after hurricanes devastated homes and other properties off the coast in Volusia County, residents are still awaiting permit approval for seawall construction.

Seminole County Commission Chairman Amy Lockhart started the annual “State of the County” address by looking back at the past year, and the relationships and resources that brought hundreds of people to Lake Mary for the luncheon and event Monday.

Hurricane Ian briefly reached maximum Category 5 status before weakening to a Category 4 storm as it blasted ashore last September in southwest Florida, eventually causing over $112 billion in damage in the U.S. and more than 150 deaths directly or indirectly.

Six months after Hurricane Ian tore through Florida, many homes and businesses are still waiting for state approval to begin rebuilding.

Weather officials say they’re retiring the names Fiona and Ian from the rotating list of Atlantic tropical cyclone names because of the death and destruction caused by the most recent storms with those names.

Two hurricane names will no longer be used.

The natural temporary weather phenomenon La Nina is gone and that's good news for a disaster-weary Southeast.

Two women have filed a lawsuit against Good Samaritan Society Kissimmee Village, and said when they moved in they were never warned of the flood risk and potential dangers of the property.

Most customers of Duke Energy Florida will see a slight increase in their bill starting next month now that the Florida Public Service Commission on Tuesday approved the energy provider’s latest fuel and capacity rate request.

The City of Winter Park posted an advisory warning the public of Hazardous Algae Bloom events happening in the city's lakes. Among those impacted are Lakes Maitland, Baldwin, Sue, Osceola and Virginia.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will study ways to reduce flooding in Daytona Beach.

A popular beach access ramp in Volusia County is temporarily closing months after damage caused by hurricanes Ian and Nicole.

State regulators moved forward Thursday with placing United Property & Casualty Insurance Co. into receivership after higher-than-expected losses from Hurricane Ian helped push the insurer into insolvency.

Seminole County is studying the landscape and the flood risks that come with it in the hope that new data will lead to better informed decisions on future projects.

Hurricane Ian caused an estimated $1 billion in agricultural-production losses, with the biggest hits to the citrus industry, along with growers of vegetables and melons, according to a new University of Florida report.

Kim Fuller with FEMA says about 50% of the people with hurricane damage to their homes qualify for hotel benefits, but only a small portion are using those benefits.

The Sage ‘n Sand Motel on South Atlantic Avenue in Daytona Beach Shores is no more.

Cleaning up is only the start of what will be a long recovery effort in Seminole County following Hurricane Ian.

The iconic wooden pier has been battered by storms over the last decade. Now, the city says they're going to build a taller and tougher one to withstand storms.

Three Disaster Recovery Centers in Central Florida are permanently closing.

Eric Silagy, chairman, president and CEO of Florida Power & Light and a prominent figure in state political and business circles, will step down next month as head of the utility, the company announced Wednesday.

Following the announcement that Good Samaritan Society is selling off the Kissimmee Village community, News 6 spoke with residents who currently live there.

From a beach access 6 miles north of Sebastian Inlet, News 6 watched Brevard County's largest beach renourishment project in two decades being put into action.

On Thursday, The Good Samaritan Society released a statement through CEO Nate Schema announcing their Osceola County facility is being sold off from the company following damage from Hurricane Ian.

After a little over a month of waiting, Flagler County is now seeing the relief funds that was promised by Gov. Ron DeSantis to support beach recovery after Florida was devastated during this past hurricane season.

The remains of a man who has been missing since Hurricane Ian hit Florida’s Gulf Coast last year have been recovered from a sunken sailboat.

Meriwether Farms — among many other farms in Florida — has had a tough few years.

Florida citrus growers took another hit Thursday, more than three months after Hurricane Ian swept through the heart of the industry.

One million Floridians have already applied for FEMA assistance for Hurricane Ian and are in various stages of being processed.

Thursday marks the final day for anyone impacted by Hurricane Ian to apply for disaster assistance with FEMA.

During a three-day event at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, families who suffered damages or food loss from Hurricane Ian arrived to see whether they were eligible for the federal funds.

Hurricane Ian tops the list as the most expensive billion-dollar U.S. disaster to happen in 2022, the third costliest on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Hurricanes Ian and Nicole didn't just destroy homes and businesses — a local beekeeper also says Florida's bee population took a hard hit.

Federal Emergency Management Agency and state officials are opening a Disaster Recovery Center in Volusia County to help residents and businesses impacted by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole.

More than 1.3% of the adult population in the U.S. was displaced by natural disasters in the past year, with hurricanes responsible for more than half of the forced relocations.

The National Park Service says it will reopen part of Playalinda Beach and Canaveral National Seashore Tuesday after spending two months trying to restore the beach following hurricanes Ian and Nicole.

As 2022 comes to a close, here's a look back at the top Florida stories that viewers read on ClickOrlando over the year.

The National Weather Service is now reporting the St. John’s River near Astor in Lake County is out of its flood stage — more than three months after Hurricane Ian.

A Volusia County World War II veteran will get to spend Christmas finally back inside his own home.

If you haven’t applied for Hurricane Ian FEMA assistance yet and need to, you have three weeks left to do so.

This past hurricane season has shown Floridians firsthand how devastating hurricanes can be.

Financial-rating agency cites parts of new law, existing issues for expected wait.

There are a lot of people displaced from the hurricanes along the coast who have found other ways to keep a roof over their head in the meantime.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers toured the town of Astor by land and water this week to find ways to prevent the area from future floods.

Nearly two months after reopening, the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens has received a big dose of financial support to help with the recovery effort from Hurricane Ian.

In an aggressive move to help families struggling after Hurricane Ian, the U.S. Small Business Administration is offering low-interest disaster loans with a 12-month deferral period “before payments must be paid.”

A Michigan Army veteran has been killed in a crash while delivering bicycles to children in Florida affected by Hurricane Ian.

If you live on a boat – and it was your primary residence before and during Hurricane Ian – and sustained hurricane damage, you may quality for federal assistance, FEMA recently announced.

Nearly 50,000 property owners forced from their homes for more than a month by Hurricane Ian or Hurricane Nicole could be eligible for tax relief under a bill that was being prepared Friday for a special legislative session next week.

U.S. officials say Florida's seasonal orange production is forecast to be down 36% from earlier estimates, in part a reflection of twin hurricanes that battered growing regions.

This past year has seen a horrific flood that submerged one-third of Pakistan, one of the three costliest U.S. hurricanes on record, devastating droughts in Europe and China, a drought-triggered famine in Africa and deadly heat waves all over.

Dellwood Park — a neigborhood in Kissimmee — was struck hard by Hurricane Ian earlier this year, leaving many of the residents to recover from the heavy floods brought in by the storm.

Steve Parker heard about the neighborhood from friends and knew he had to help.

Fall 2022 was a season that will go down in the record books with back-to-back hurricanes racking up a considerable amount of rain during a usually drier time of the year.

The Florida Legislature will meet next week for a special session on property insurance and property tax relief in the wake of damage caused by Hurricane Ian.

Commissioners in Osceola County tabled an ordinance calling for a tenant’s bill of rights and a flood disclosure requirement Monday, a move which cheered realtors.

Grant funding is finally rolling into Flagler County for fixing the severely eroded dunes. The recent hurricanes wiped away what was left of the dunes and took out chunks of A1A.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced $25 million in state funds would go toward providing building materials to restore homes damaged during Hurricane Ian.

Hurricane season is officially over, but the impacts from Ian and Nicole will linger for years to come.

Before Hurricanes Ian and Nicole hit Central Florida, state researchers had declared 426 miles of Florida beach as critically eroded.

As crews continue to save homes along the Volusia County coast, government leaders and residents are asking about ways to build back better to withstand another hit by a strong hurricane.

Gov. Ron DeSantis laid out potential proposals Thursday to correct the state’s crippled insurance market.

This week, New Smyrna Beach Zone 2 commissioner Lisa Martin held community listening sessions for residents to ask questions and express concerns after Hurricane Ian and Nicole.

The Atlantic hurricane season has ended with 14 named storms, but residents of Florida and Puerto Rico will continue to deal with damage caused by Hurricanes Ian, Nicole and Fiona.

An Atlantic hurricane season with 14 named storms has ended, leaving residents in the Florida Keys to celebrate even as others around Florida and Puerto Rico continue to deal with the damage caused by Hurricanes Ian, Nicole and Fiona.

Some homeowners in Volusia whose homes were destroyed along the coast hope a disaster declaration will help them rebuild faster.

The U.S. Small Business Administration will be operating a Mobile Disaster Assistance Center in Daytona Beach this week to help residents impacted by Florida’s recent hurricanes.

It was a tale of two seasons. The 2022 hurricane season got off to an extremely slow start, but quickly became very active in late September.

Florida’s emergency management team is set to present Gov. Ron DeSantis with damage assessments to be used as evidence to request major federal disaster declarations for public assistance and individual assistance in the wake of Hurricane Nicole.

Florida will have an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 travel trailers available for families in need of short term shelter, the state says.

People impacted by Hurricane Ian have more time to apply for federal disaster assistance.

Families in the Sanford area picked up free Thanksgiving meals Wednesday night at the Midway Safe Harbor Center.

The amount of debris cleared throughout Orange County since October would fill 5,500 Dumpsters, a news release states.

FEMA announced that, at the request of the State of Florida, those impacted by Hurricane Ian now have additional time to apply for federal disaster assistance.

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the launch of the Unite Florida Recovery Portal to connect Floridians impacted by Hurricane Ian to important recovery resources, including housing support.

The Space Coast Office of Tourism has kicked off a special marketing campaign to assure potential visitors that Brevard County has avoided the brunt of Hurricanes Ian and Nicole — and the county is fully open for tourism, according to News 6 partner Florida Today.

Orange County Public Works will move ahead with a $23.4 million flood mitigation project in Orlo Vista after receiving a new federal funding haul, according to a news release Wednesday.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management gave News 6 a look at the Volusia County coastline on Wednesday, nearly a week after Hurricane Nicole.

In Geneva, officials say Lake Harney has crested, but it may be a few more days before Lake Monroe recedes.

Several residents spoke in front of Volusia County councilmembers on Tuesday about the damage they are dealing with after both Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole.

While parts of Southwest Florida were decimated by Hurricane Ian, a community less than 50 miles from the coast looks like there was no storm at all.

A green sea turtle named after Hurricane Ian was among 15 injured sea turtles released in Gulf Stream waters off Key West.

Hurricane Nicole wasn't the typical Florida hurricane or tropical storm.

The initial damage assessment for Hurricane Nicole’s wrath in Volusia County is over $481 million, topping the $377 million mark set by Hurricane Ian, according to the Volusia County Property Appraiser.

Volusia County officials announced that the FEMA Disaster Recovery Center will reopen on Monday, Nov. 14. to those who were impacted by Hurricane Ian.

Ormond Beach homeowners are faced with more devastation after Hurricane Nicole came barreling through Central Florida.

Homeowners and businesses along the St. John’s River in Astor said they are thankful water levels this week didn’t reach as high as levels during Hurricane Ian.

New Smyrna Beach is back in business a day after hurricane Nicole caused extensive beach erosion and destruction along Volusia county's coastline.