BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) — It’s been nearly four years since Hurricane Michael, and resiliency projects are happening all over Bay County.
The category 5 storm changed people’s lives forever. Since then, Bay County has invested nearly $50 million in grant funding for disaster recovery projects.
“That’s federal dollars, they roll to the state, the state gives them to us,” said Bay County Commission Chairman, Robert Carroll. “People need to know where their money is being spent and how it’s being allocated and the status of the projects because it does affect them.”
Bay County leaders have created an interactive project map to show people the progress of several resiliency improvements happening in the area.
“Whether they’re hardening projects or installing new utility lines, building new fire stations or making things more hazard-pro for the hurricanes they need to know where that is,” Carroll said.
With the anniversary of Hurricane Michael right around the corner, the arrival and aftermath of Hurricane Ian has brought up a lot of feelings connected to the 2018 storm.
“Our storm, it came and went,” Carroll went. “It was really rapid where there’s just kind of lingered. It caused lots of destruction and there’s still water flowing. People thought they made it through just fine and now all of a sudden their houses are getting flooded.”
Carroll said they plan to take a trip to Southwest Florida in the coming weeks to share their recovery experience with local governments impacted by Hurricane Ian.
If you’re interested in checking the status of the Bay County projects, click here.