Live Oak, FL - New York and New Jersey are facing a Nor'easter right on the heels of Hurricane Sandy. And folks around Florida and Georgia are certainly no stranger to strong winds and flood waters.
It's been roughly five months since Tropical Storm Debby swept North Florida. It caused millions of dollars in damages in Live Oak. So far the City Of Live Oak alone has shelled out more than $700 thousand to recover. And Mayor Garth "Sonny" Nobles says those expenses are mounting everyday.
"Probably the main thing right now are the sink hole repairs. We've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair sink holes and we have some more that have to be repaired," said Mayor Nobles.
One sinkhole cost as much as $200 thousand to fill. It was practically a crater in Pinewood Drive across from the high school. School buses had to be re-routed for weeks.
319 homes were affected by the flood and 58 businesses. Now dozens are being condemned due to the severity of the damage. FEMA is helping those people to rebuild or relocate.
"FEMA has been very helpful. And we're still working with FEMA even today," said Mayor Nobles.
As for downtown, some of the buildings will have to come down. That expense goes to the owners and their insurance. But Warren Street falls on the city and Mayor Nobles is hoping FEMA will help with that too.
"Live Oak is bouncing back. It'll be a long term recovery process but we're nibbling at it a little bit at a time and eventually we'll get there one day," said Mayor Nobles.
The Mayor says they do have some funds reserved for unexpected incidents like this. They'll be discussing how to use them in their next City Council meeting.
