This story was originally published by the Ledger-Enquirer.
Pulling into the driveway of Daniel Shahan’s yard caused a bit of deja vu.
It looked almost exactly the way it was last documented in September 2023 after Hurricane Idalia blew three trees on top of his home on Gornto Road in Valdosta, Georgia. His yard was covered in branches and stumps and full trees when the Ledger-Enquirer reported on Shahan’s experience of Idalia last year.
Thirteen months later, Hurricane Helene swirled through Lowndes County, affecting the same areas of Valdosta again.
Shahan said this time around, trees partially broke through his roof, but the damage wasn’t nearly as bad as last year.
And, a blue tarp lay on top of his roof where the tree from last year fell.
“We never fixed it from last year,” he said.
The tarp has been there for one year, and thanks to thousands of staples and hammered nails, it held up through Tropical Storm Debby, Hurricane Helene and other rain events throughout the year.
Helene blew over Valdosta at over 111 mph, classified Category 3 hurricane wind speeds. Valdosta is 75 miles inland from Florida’s Big Bend where the Category 4 hurricane made landfall. That is nearly twice the wind speed that Valdosta received from Idalia at 68 mph.
Credit: Kala Hunter
Credit: Kala Hunter
Debby mainly brought a lot of rain, he said.
“Helene caused damage on a scale we’ve never seen before,” said Ashley Tye, from the Emergency Management Agency of Lowndes County at a press conference Oct. 1. “The damage was three to four times greater than Idalia.”
Getting ready for back to back hurricanes
Despite hurricane path projections placing Helene’s eye farther west than where it actually wound up, Shahan was prepared. He spent $1,000 on three chainsaws and bought a generator. After waking up unscathed with trees in his front and backyard, he was thankful all he had to do was clean up trees. His neighbor’s car was completely crushed by one that fell from his yard.
Shahan spent most of the next several days creating dozens of tree stumps and putting the chainsaws he bought to work.
“This time I couldn’t afford to pay someone so I bought chainsaws myself,” he said.
The quotes that tree service removal companies give after disasters range from $5,000 to $15,000. Price gouging during these events has been a rampant problem throughout Georgia, according to the Georgia Office of Insurance Commission.
“I got the generator before the storm. I got a chainsaw, generator, some gas, so I was a little prepared, but next time I’d get even more gas,” he said. “My friend next door has a skid loader and that’s the only way I was able to get the logs up to the street.”
The generator is powering his window air conditioning units and a few lights and fans in the house.
The cost to repair without insurance
Like his roof, his kitchen still has damage from Idalia.
“A local company last time (during Idalia) quoted the roof alone (at) $40,000,” Shahan said. “And damage on the inside from flooring and mold and all that, they said it would be closer to $90,000.”
Shahan filed for assistance with FEMA shortly after the hurricane last year.
Shahan’s wife, Amber, owns the home. She bought it a year or so before Idalia with inheritance money after her dad died. Initially, she had home insurance, but decided to forgo it after realizing a repair to her rain gutter and roof could be fixed by her brother for $90 and avoid a $2,000 deductible.
“I can’t afford like a $2,000 deductible for a small little thing, so I canceled it,” she said. “We don’t have hurricanes in Valdosta, right?” she said sarcastically. “And then, of course, here it comes.”
Credit: Ledger-Enquirer
Credit: Ledger-Enquirer
Daniel Shahan repairs garage doors at 1st Choice Garage and Amber Shahan is a mental health therapist.
The Shahans said FEMA sent a check with a few thousand dollars once every few months after Idalia. But that ended up going toward other bills and quickly got used.
“We used it to pay for gas, catch up on bills, buy food and live off of, then they would send a little more,” Daniel Shahan said. “They didn’t give us enough money to fix the house. And they said they had given all the funds out.”
Daniel Shahan said if he had filed sooner and if they hadn’t given all the money out, they probably would have had a lot more help.
“We didn’t know what to file for or how to do it, but this time we’ve already filed and know what to expect,” he said.
How much will FEMA provide now?
When Gov. Brian Kemp declared an emergency a day before the storm, a pipeline of resources opened to respond to victims.
Lowndes County was hit so severely that the federal government issued a declaration by President Joe Biden to add more aid for benefits to local governments and citizens to start receiving money.
“There’s basically a menu, and the federal government looks at the compilation of damages that we had and starts checking boxes,” Paige Dukes, county manager of Lowndes County, said. “Within the confines of a benefit, they may turn on individual assistance.”
Dukes said individual assistance is on a spectrum. It will not look the same as it did for the last storm and it won’t look the same for the next storm.
Credit: Kala Hunter
Credit: Kala Hunter
Dukes said that Daniel Shahan’s case likely will have more money coming to him this time around. She also said the Small Business Administration is a great place to get a loan with a very low interest rate and a low credit requirement.
“It’s not just for businesses, it’s for individuals,” she said.
Why not get insurance between the two hurricanes? Shahan said he was certain no one would take him on as a client since his house had so much damage from Idalia.
“Who would insure us?” he asked. He did not call to get quotes from anyone and said if they came to inspect the home, they’d likely see it is uninsurable in its current state.
Shahan said that they are considering moving if they got a good enough offer on the house but they love their neighbors and don’t want to leave.
“We’re talking about leaving this time if someone offers a good enough amount,” he said.
Credit: Ledger-Enquirer
Credit: Ledger-Enquirer
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