Public Comment from Citizens and Stakeholders on Florida’s Draft State Action Plan for Hurricane Ian Recovery 

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Tallahassee, Fla. –  Today, FloridaCommerce announced it will host two public hearings for Hurricane-Ian impacted communities in Seminole and Hillsborough counties. These hearings seek public comment from citizens and stakeholders on Florida's Draft State Action Plan for Hurricane Ian recovery funding. This funding was federally allocated to Florida for disaster recovery and mitigation following Hurricane Ian. 

FloridaCommerce will host public hearings in the following communities:

SEMINOLE COUNTY
Date: Thursday, August 3, 2023
Time: 5:30 p.m.- 7 p.m.
Location: Seminole County Board of County Commissioners 
                1101 E. 1st St.
                Sanford, FL 32771

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY
Date: Friday, August 4, 2023
Time: 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Location: Patel Center for Global Solutions Auditorium
                11710 USF Genshaft Dr. 
                Tampa, FL 33620

A live-stream option will be available for those who are unable to attend in person.

These public hearings follow nearly 40 listening sessions and workshops held earlier this year with county officials in each county impacted by the 2022 storms. These workshops gave FloridaCommerce valuable insight into the needs of these communities as they continue the hurricane recovery process. 

• FloridaCommerce Hosts 14 Citizen and Stakeholder Workshops on Disaster Recovery Funds for Hurricane Ian-Impacted Communities
• The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Visits Communities Impacted by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole
• The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Visits Fifteen Additional Communities Impacted by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole
• Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Meets with Monroe County on Long-Term Recovery Efforts and Hosts Hurricane Evacuation Modeling Workshops in the Florida Keys

On March 15, 2023, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that the state of Florida will receive more than $910 million in Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding to support long-term resiliency and mitigation efforts following Hurricane Ian in Brevard, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Flagler, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lake, Manatee, Monroe, Okeechobee, Osceola, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Seminole and St. Johns counties. FloridaCommerce will lead the state’s efforts in developing the State Action Plan that will provide a high-level strategy for how funding will be used to address unmet, long-term recovery needs in the eligible Hurricane Ian-impacted communities.

HUD identified Lee, Orange, Sarasota and Volusia counties to receive direct funding allocations separate from the amount allocated to the state of Florida. Lee County will receive more than $1.1 billion, Orange County will receive more than $219 million, Sarasota County will receive more than $201 million and Volusia County will receive more than $328 million for disaster recovery and mitigation efforts. These four counties will be responsible for designing their own programs to address their communities' unmet needs, as well as administering any funds to run those programs. FloridaCommerce is committed to working with all counties to swiftly administer long-term disaster recovery funds.

For those who are unable to attend a public hearing, Floridians impacted by Hurricane Ian can provide comments on the Draft State Action Plan through email to HurricaneIan@RebuildFlorida.gov or by mail to:

FloridaCommerce
Office of Long-Term Resiliency
Attention: CDBG-Disaster Recovery Program
The Caldwell Building
107 East Madison Street, MSC-400
Tallahassee FL, 32399

For more information, please visit www.RebuildFlorida.gov or email CDBG-DR@DEO.MyFlorida.com for answers to your specific questions.