Within the span of two weeks in 2024, our region was slammed by two major hurricanes.
Don Ferguson is among those who are still dealing with the effects.
In March, months after Hurricane Milton caused devastation across the Tampa Bay region, Ferguson said he "lost everything" after his home took on multiple feet of water and nearly everything inside was destroyed.
His home was still flooded because of clogged drainage pipes.
“I've worked my whole life," he said at the time. "My whole life is on this property."
And he continues to work on getting his home livable again.
Since February, the floodwaters on his property have receded, and he has also gotten more financial help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Ferguson is living in a trailer in front of his house. But now comes the hard part — making his home livable again.
"Well, at 71 years old, I'm good for about four to five hours," Ferguson said, "and I'm pretty much done for the day.
"I'm trying to save every dime I got from him for this kind of stuff, and do all this myself, because I don't have enough money to have someone come in and do it. Most of my friends are the same age as me, so they're too old to help, too. So I'm here doing what I can do."
"I'm so tired of working," Ferguson said. "This is supposed to be my retirement years, and I'm working harder now than I worked at work, except now I don't have the energy level like I used to have."
Ferguson is also struggling to get the drainage behind his place cleared.
Pasco County says it's his responsibility since he owns the property. Meanwhile, he said the Florida Department of Emergency Management told him the county owns that drainage, and he can't get more money if it's county owned.
Right now he said he's trying to figure out who exactly owns that drainage, and how he's going to get it cleared or dredged before another hurricane hits.
