Hurricane season began over the weekend, and we thought it would be a good time to check back in on a person we introduced you to last year.
WUFT followed up with Cedar Island resident Jody Griffis about how he's picking up the pieces after Hurricane Helene.
"It just knocks the air out of you," Griffis said after he returned home after Helene hit. "Like I say, we're fighters, we're survivors. But you don't ever expect to see that."
When we last spoke to Cedar Island resident Jody Griffis, he and his wife just learned, even though their house was on stilts, Hurricane Helene had destroyed their home.
" The emotional part of it was just loss," he said. "I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to do myself. I came out here for probably a week every day after it occurred. We were staying with my brother. We're very blessed. Friends and family pulled us through this. Ultimately, it was home."
He said they lost countless possessions and family memories.
"My wife, of course, was devastated," Griffis said, "because our family pictures, baby albums, everything was here."
Although Hurricane Helene hit in September of 2024, Griffis still doesn't have a permanent home.
The Taylor County Sheriff's Office gave his family a trailer that now sits on his property. Still, Griffis said he bought a place about 20 miles south in Steinhatchee to live in, in the meantime.
He said getting assistance has been an uphill battle, especially when working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency's online portal.
" It's gonna trip you up, it's gonna kick you out of the system for whatever reasons it may be," Griffis said. "We've been kicked out of the system three or four times. We appeal it and, it's gone nowhere fast. But we're going to keep at it because we don't have any other option. "
Lindsay Tozer is a spokesperson for FEMA. She said Griffis' situation is not uncommon, especially in Florida, and that the agency is still backlogged from Hurricane Ian, which hit in 2022.
" Florida has been really hit back-to-back-to-back for several years now," Tozer said, "and with regards to the availability for appropriate contractors for supplies, that does continue to build up over time and that can create a delay in the process."
According to FEMA, there are nearly 33,000 claims from last summer's hurricanes – Debby, Helene and Milton – that are still listed as ineligible because of a lack of documentation. Still, as of a May 28 FEMA recovery update, the agency approved over $1.6 billion in assistance for Floridians for those storms.
Griffis said – as this next Hurricane season starts – depending on others is essential, especially when working through the red tape of FEMA and the Small Business Administration.
" Don't ever give up," he said. "Stay the course. Deal with FEMA, deal with SBA. There's a lot of help out there if you know where to look."
He said through all the struggles he and his family endured, it's the Cedar Island community that helped them push through.
" If I didn't have the friends and family and the support groups that we had," Griffis said, "I can't imagine going through this without that. That's what held us together."
And Griffis said if you learn that a storm is coming your way, get out. Because that's what saved his life.
" It got 20 foot plus here," he said, "so it can happen. It's not worth your life. I'm a storm junkie. I love these things, and I say that just losing my home. But at the same time, there's a level. Mother nature doesn't play, so it's just not worth taking the chance."
Jody Griffis later told WUFT he's now in contact with a FEMA case manager and hopes to start rebuilding soon.
He said his house will be on much higher stilts this time, to keep above the 100-year floodplain.
" I got a running bet with somebody in the building business that says if she wants your house, she's gonna take your house," Griffis said. "If Helene comes back next year and I've got my house built and I've had my finger in building this home, I promise you my house will be here when I come back. I promise you, 'cause I don't like to lose twice."
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting another strong hurricane season. Its outlook includes up to 19 named storms and 5 major hurricanes.
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