Hurricane Recovery Status Update for Coral Bay

In May, CBCC conducted a survey via internet and Facebook about the current hurricane recovery situation for people in Coral Bay. It included 24 questions about personal situations, homes and infrastructure, priorities, and long term goals. The actual results from the 183 people who responded are in the linked documents below. Key question responses are highlighted here. More analysis and sharing will be done as time permits. You can learn a lot about what people are thinking by reading through the questionnaire results below. We hope the information will be useful and inspiring to government agencies, relief organizations and individuals in prioritizing actions we can take.

Key Points:

Almost everyone had damage to their homes and businesses, and …

Most people report that they are making steady recovery progress.

Only 33% are “OK” and feel ready for this next storm season, fully 2/3rds do not feel ready. But the good news is that only 12% still do not have a safe place to stay for the upcoming hurricane season.

36% of people do not have a reliable way to reach 911 today (or 340-776-9110) due to lack of ANY reliable communications at their home (cell, internet or landline). Villa owners feel particularly vulnerable for their tourists who cannot use their cellphones due to the limited service areas right now. Internet and communications recovery after storms is also key priority.

Debris Removal “Right Now” by the government and VIYA along all roads in Coral Bay, and on private properties, is a top need – both to avoid debris blowing around in any future storm, and to show a good face for tourism.

There continues to be strong agreement (85 to 95%) with the Coral Bay Vision elements from the 2013 planning process (click here for info about the 2013 Coral Bay Vision study).

Excellent Press Coverage: https://stjohnsource.com/2018/06/19/coral-bay-survey-finds-two-thirds-of-respondents-feel-unprepared-for-2018-storm-season/

We looked to see if full time residents, business owners and vacation rental owners had different priorities, by sorting the results for each group. There are some differences in perspectives, but overall people have the same priorities.

What Recovery Issues are very important to be handled right now in the next three months?

88% say “Removal of Debris Piles from Roadsides”

76% say “Removal of Debris on Private Property – that may fly around in windstorms

75% say that we should prioritize safe housing for all prior to hurricane season

70% say the main roads – Route 10 & 107 need to be fixed in next three months

See details here including peoples’ detailed comments about what should be prioritized: Q16 Priorities all responses

CBCC got a 4.3 rating out of 5 stars. Q11 CBCC Rating We are happy to see that most people were pleased with CBCC’s after the storms assistance.

See the details on ratings of FEMA, Property Insurance claims and the SBA loan process in the complete question summary response links above.

More analysis and the open-ended comments may be added here later. Check back.

Added Analysis: