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A hurricane destroyed farmworker housing. A nonprofit’s rebuilding something better.

Jul 7, 2022
Hurricane Irma damaged or destroyed already dilapidated trailer homes in Immokalee, Florida, in 2017. An effort to build permanent affordable housing is now getting off the ground.
The Immokalee Fair Housing Alliance broke ground on a new affordable housing complex on approximately 10 acres of vacant land in November 2021. IFHA chairman Arol Buntzman, left, is joined by supporters of the project.
Courtesy Immokalee Fair Housing Alliance

Florida's new governor brings a new approach to climate change

May 24, 2019
Under former governor Rick Scott, Florida state employees said — and documents confirmed — there was a ban on using the term "climate change." Instead of "sea level rise," employees were instructed to say "nuisance flooding."
A woman walks through flooded streets in the rural migrant worker town of Immokalee, which was especially hard hit by Hurricane Irma on September 13, 2017 in Immokalee, Florida.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

A citrus farm is still dealing with lasting damage from Hurricane Irma

Sep 14, 2018
The storm was the fifth costliest in U.S. history, damaging orange trees in Lake Placid, Florida.
Hurricanes are added stress on citrus farmers in Florida who already battle greening, a disease that effects their trees and causes bitter fruits to fall off of them prematurely.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Tourists may be back in the Florida Keys, but some residents still haven't recovered from Hurricane Irma

Apr 18, 2018
Local governments in the Florida Keys have spent almost $150 million so far cleaning up after Hurricane Irma.
Patrick Garvey with his dog, Bella, who rode out Hurricane Irma in the Keys with him. Garvey and Bella are living in a camper on the Grimal Grove property while his wife and twin 4-year-old daughters are staying with family in Brazil.
Nancy Klingener/ for Marketplace
Protesters rally against foreclosures on Puerto Rican families affected by Hurricane Maria, outside the offices of TPG Capital, Dec. 20, 2017 in New York City. The activists claims that TPG Capital's mortgage service companies are aggressively foreclosing on families in Puerto Rico after many people were displaced from their homes following Hurricane Maria.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Floridians wait for help and repairs after Irma

Dec 21, 2017
Low unemployment and a shortage of construction workers make for long waits to get storm repairs done.
The remains of a home destroyed by Hurricane Irma in Goodland, Florida, where the storm made landfall.
Mitchell Hartman/Marketplace

Florida's uneven recovery from Hurricane Irma

Dec 21, 2017
Low-income communities face a long road ahead while in more affluent areas, homeowners can rely on insurance payouts to rebuild.

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Disaster recovery starts with temporary housing, but many Texans remain displaced

Dec 13, 2017
Rockport residents are living in temporary housing miles away, hurting the city's workforce and tax base.
Hotel rooms are few and far between in Rockport, Texas. Many people who received FEMA money for housing are using it to rent homes or hotel rooms in Corpus Christi, 30 miles away.
Andy Uhler/Marketplace

Florida's citrus industry is still suffering from Hurricane Irma

Nov 27, 2017
The state's congressional delegation is pushing for dedicated funding to help growers, whose losses are estimated at $760 million.
Thousands of trees were uprooted by Hurricane Irma in Everglades Harvesting's 500-acre orange grove near Naples. The trees are being dumped on burn piles to make room for costly replanting. This year's crop is mostly a loss, says Paul Meador, a fourth-generation citrus grower.
Mitchell Hartman/Marketplace

White House requests $44 billion in disaster aid from Congress. Now the negotiations begin

Nov 20, 2017
Texas, Florida, and especially Puerto Rico say they need tens of billions of more in funding to help recovery efforts. But how do economic cost estimates from a disaster get turned into legislation?
U.S. Army soldiers pass out food, provided by FEMA, to residents in a neighborhood without grid electricity or running water on October 17, 2017 in San Isidro, Puerto Rico.
Mario Tama/Getty Images