Keys Strong - We Will Rebuild! Fha Disaster Home Loans Now Available
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COMMUNITY NEWS 1 Dude, you need to shave. 1¢ Clockwise from left: Don Bell, Rob Christensen and Joe Zajac work to restore power on 64th Street earlier this week in Marathon. The men and women of Florida Keys Electric Cooperative are our heroes. See page 26. SARA MATTHIS/Keys Weekly KEYS STRONG - WE WILL REBUILD! FHA DISASTER HOME LOANS NOW AVAILABLE. ZERO DOWN PAYMENT FOR DISPLACED OWNERS & RENTERS (must be primary residence) TEWES MORTGAGE BRIAN TEWES Your local lending expert - Ready to help! Call 305.495.6000 [email protected] for FREE information or go to NMLS# 375025 Tewes Mortgage NMLS# 1453791 www.TewesMortgage.com NMLSConsumerAccess.org 2 KEYS WEEKLY / SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 KEYS WEEKLY / SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 COMMUNITY NEWS 3 No one could have said it better than The Clash. The week before the storm, ev- eryone from Key Largo to Key West quickly adopted the soundtrack from the im- mortal ’80s hit, “If I go there will be trouble, An’ if I stay it will be double, So come on and let me know… Should I stay or should I go?” Strumming nervous fingers, we looked to the heavens, we looked to the radar, we watched the cones and we looked to each other for the answer. But we all knew were damned if we did, and damned if we didn’t. So we asked locals … —Weekly Staff FLORIDA DID YOU STAY OR KEYS DID YOU GO? STRONG “I left, I had small kids and a grandmother who is 88 so we went to Jacksonville,” said Mike Fernandez of Imjustcuttin Barber Together we stand Studio in Key West , who had never left for a storm. “You could be in a Category 4 or 5 down here, and as you went up the state a 3 or a 2 or a 1. No matter what, you were Key West offices going to be in it.” open 9/29/17 “I stayed because I had a business; Marathon offices maybe if I didn’t I would have left,” said Pepe Paez, owner of Five Brothers. Both open 10/6/17 Five Brothers locations used the extra food to feed Keys Energy Services and Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority em- ployees following Irma. Libby Frazier, a utilities employee at the City of Marathon, has a simple rule: If it’s a Category 4 or 5 — she’s outta here. She landed north of Tampa at the home of her boyfriend’s brother. “When it hit up there, it was probably a Cat- egory 1 or 2,” she said. “We stayed in a two-story all cement home. The neighbors, who had stayed during the Labor Day storm in 1935, showed us where the water line was, so we weren’t worried. This time they got a couple inches in the house, but a lot of that was because the developers cleared the mangroves out around the houses,” said Key Largo’s Mary Navarette. , owner of Keys Custom Tees, Tommy Kraus Most Major Insurance Companies Accepted said the safety of his family was the decid- ing factor in leaving. “We left and went to the Lake Wales area. The storm still hit us as a Category 3 there. We came back the day after they let us and realized our home had never lost power.” When asked if he would stay or go for the next storm, the father of two said he would evacuate again. 4 MONROE COUNTY KEYS WEEKLY / SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 9709 Overseas Hwy. Marathon, FL 33050 Office: 305.743.0844 www.keysweekly.com Publisher Jason Koler [email protected] Publishing Partner Britt Myers [email protected] Editor Sara Matthis [email protected] Copy Editor Mike Howie [email protected] Account Executives Lesley Aaron [email protected] Hollie Will [email protected] WATER & CURFEW OPEN SHELTERS The Florida Keys Aqueduct Author- • The Guidance Center at 41st Staff Writers ity announced that there no longer are Street in Marathon. On Sept. 26, the Kristen Livengood any boil water notices in effect in the shelter housed 25 people. [email protected] Keys. • Boy Scout Camp, Overseas Hays Blinckmann The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Highway at MM 23.8 on Summerland [email protected] is continuously updating its curfew for Key. On Sept. 26, the shelter housed 70 Gabriel Sanchez the Florida Keys. To see the latest, visit people. [email protected] the Facebook page MCSO-Florida Keys. As of Sept. 27: Production Manager Anneke Patterson • No curfew: MM 90 to the county [email protected] THE 50% RULE line; and Rockland Key Bridge south to In reality, “substantial damage” is a Key West. Office Manager Charlotte Hruska specific term. It applies to a damaged • Midnight to 6 a.m.: Islamorada [email protected] structure in a Special Flood Hazard (MM 90) through the north end of the Area — or floodplain — for which the 7 Mile Bridge; and Ramrod Key to the Design / Web Master total cost of repairs is 50 percent or Rockland Key Bridge (south end of Big Travis Cready [email protected] more of the structure’s adjusted mar- Coppitt Key) FREE MEALS FOR STUDENTS ket value before the disaster occurred, • 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.: North end of Students in Monroe County Schools Design / Pre-Press regardless of the cause of damage. the 7 Mile Bridge to the south end of will return to schools after Hurricane Javier Reyes “Market value” means the county Little Torch Key. Irma able to receive free breakfast and [email protected] property appraiser’s value of the struc- free lunch. All traditional schools and Classifieds ture plus 20 percent. If you disagree some charter schools will be able to Luis Bouzon with the property appraiser’s value, receive meals through Oct. 20. [email protected] 305.743.0844 you may submit a uniform appraisal BY THE #’s report for determination of market Se habla español value. Land value is excluded from the 27 — Keys families approved for tem- Keys Weekly Newspapers (ISSN 1944-0812) are a determination. For example, if a struc- porary FEMA trailers to be purchased COLLEGE RESUMES community newspaper group ture’s adjusted market value before directly from vendors. Florida Keys Community College published every Friday by the damage was $200,000 and repairs resumes classes on Monday, Oct. 2. Keys Weekly Newspapers, 9709 Overseas Highway are estimated to cost $120,000, that 27,935 — people registered with FEMA Marathon, FL 33050. structure is “substantially damaged.” for individual assistance. Subscription rates are $100.00 per year outside of Monroe Your community building official County. Please call for all other or floodplain manager will make the 10,771 — people approved for indi- CAN THIS PALM BE SAVED? subscription rates including over- seas mail. decision regarding whether a structure vidual assistance. “It will be at least six months (and is substantially damaged. If your struc- probably longer) before it is appar- Periodicals postage pending at Marathon, FL and ture is substantially damaged, you will 9,349 — Small Business Assistance ent that a palm will recover. Recovery additional mailing offices. All stories, photos, and receive a letter. referrals in Monroe County. consists of new leaves emerging from graphics are copyrighted materials. If you disagree with a decision the bud. In some cases, the new leaves about substantial damage, you may 651 — Keys businesses that have will not look normal—they may be POSTMASTER: submit a complete cost estimate for registered with SBA; 7 approved for abnormally shaped and/or shorter Send address changes to Keys Weekly Newspapers the repair of all damages sustained by $497,400 in funding. than normal, or the leaflets or leaf seg- 9709 Overseas Highway your home that is prepared and signed ments may have necrotic (dead tissue) Marathon, FL 33050. by a licensed general contractor. Your edges. However, over time, each suc- contractor will be required to sign an cessive new leaf should appear a little News Deadline affidavit indicating the cost estimate more normal until eventually, normal Tuesday Noon submitted includes all damages to leaves appear. Again, this takes time, Advertising Deadline your home, not just structural. so patience is required.” Tuesday 2 p.m. — Submitted by Monroe County — Monroe County Extension Services KEYS WEEKLY / SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 5 7603 Overseas Hwy. Marathon, FL 33050 305-743-6000 1450 Ne 1st Ave, Florida City, FL 33034 305-246-4229 6 MONROE COUNTY KEYS WEEKLY / SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 FEMA HELP DESKS LOANS FROM THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION The best way to register for disaster assistance is to download If you are in a declared disas- the smartphone app and begin the ter area and are the victim of a process. Residents can also call the disaster, you may be eligible for FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362 for financial assistance from the Small voice, 711 and Video Relay Service Business Administration, even if (VRS). If you are deaf, hard of hear- you don’t own a business. ing, or have a speech disability and use a TTY, call 800-462-7585. • Home and Personal Prop- These centers allow people to erty Loans. Homeowners may register for FEMA assistance for apply for up to $200,000 to replace the first time. These locations have or repair their primary residence. limited ability to help people update In some cases, SBA can refinance their accounts. all or part of a previous mort- • Monroe County’s Big Pine Com- gage when the applicant does not munity Park, 31009 Atlantis Drive. have credit available elsewhere A Disaster Response Center has been set up at Monroe County’s Big Pine Community The hours are 8 a.m.