Pinellas County is seeking input from residents on how to spend over $800 million toward long-term hurricane recovery.
According to a release, Pinellas County was awarded $813,783,000 by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to support recovery from Hurricane Idalia in 2023 and Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024.
The money comes from the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program, which can help rebuild homes and businesses, provide rental assistance, restore damaged infrastructure and address any other critical needs.
RELATED: Pinellas receives more than $800 million from HUD for long-term hurricane recovery
The county has launched an online survey and will also host a series of public meetings in April and May to help finalize an action plan for spending the money. HUD requires the money to be spent on unmet needs caused by hurricanes — with a majority toward helping low-to-moderate income households.
The money will serve residents in all cities in the county, except for St. Petersburg, which received its own allocation of $159.9 million. The county said it plans to focus on initial programs helping residents, businesses and workers before focusing on public facilities and infrastructure.
Pinellas County has also launched a new website that is the hub for any information about storm recovery programs paid for by HUD.
The county will be posting its draft action plan for a 30-day comment period on the website by the end of April. This will then be submitted to HUD for final approval by the summer, according to a release. Once the plan is approved, the county will start rolling out programs and projects by fall 2025 at the earliest.
Below are important dates to know if you want to give your input:
Public meeting schedule
Monday, April 7, 6-8 p.m. (South County)
Lealman Exchange
Ray Neri Room
5175 45th Street North, St. Petersburg
Thursday, April 10, 6-8 p.m. (Mid County)
City of Dunedin - City Hall
Commission Chambers
737 Louden Ave, Dunedin
Thursday, April 24, 6-8 p.m. (North County)
Harbor Hall/White Chapel
1190 Georgia Avenue, Palm Harbor
Tuesday, May 6, 9:30 a.m. (Board of County Commission Meeting)
333 Chestnut Street, Palm Room
Clearwater, FL 33756
Zoom Meetings
Links at: recover.pinellas.gov/meetings
Tuesday, May 13, 11 a.m.
Thursday, May 15, 6 p.m.
For any text updates on Pinellas County's storm recovery programs, text the word "RECOVER" TO 888777 or click here.
