Help Susan Cooney Rebuild After Devastating Flood

Good morning,

My name is Susan Cooney, and I live in Live Oaks neighborhood in St. Pete, FL. On September 4, 2024, around dinnertime it began to rain and did not stop for hours. BUT the effects were like nothing I have EVER seen before. I have owned my home since 1990. In front of our house, we have a drainage ditch to prevent flooding in our neighborhood. The ditch has NOT been maintained properly. The ditch runs from 51st street to 58th street. Due to the rain and lack of maintenance to the ditch, it quickly filled with water overflowing into the streets and houses. It was the lack of maintenance and lack of diligence, to have allowed the ditch to become so massively clogged with debris. Especially during the Hurricane season.

My entire 4-bedroom 3-bath home flooded with about 6 inches of water. My mini-van parked in my driveway flooded and had to be towed to dealership, it will most likely be totaled along with multiple of our neighbors’ cars. My husband worked diligently to use wet-vac and move furniture and dehumidifiers in each room constantly for days. Now my husband and daughters are sick. One of my daughters is a cancer survivor and I have had respiratory issues ever since covid. With the inability to remove everything ruined from the flood, we are at risk for the growth of black mold in our house which is detrimental to our health. Our floors are ruined, and we lost so many valuable things during this event. We did not have insurance to cover flooding because I have lived in this house for 34 years and have NEVER had a flood like this. There was no flood warning prior to this, and it happened so fast there was nothing we could do to prevent damage. I called FEMA and they will not be able to assist unless Ron DeSantis issues a major disaster declaration. The Governor’s office. We need help but we don’t know what to do or who to contact. Please help.

Anything you can donate would be greatly appreciated so we can put it back in to restoring the house and getting a new vehicle to be able to take my daughter to school.

Thank you <3