The City of Wilmington continues to support residents hit by the catastrophic flooding brought by the remnants of Hurricane Ida. It's now offering financial assistance for homeowners to help with certain repairs.
The City of Wilmington estimates the flooding affected as many as 275 property owners. City officials said Wednesday progress has been made to restore utility service to the properties, but there are still “quite a few” households experiencing plumbing, electric and gas issues.
Read Delaware Public Media's guide to recovering from Ida flooding here.
Willie Patrick, Jr., Wilmington’s director of emergency management, says volunteers will focus on helping with mold mitigation this weekend. He says many properties have already had damaged items and wet drywall taken out.
“We’ve made some strides,” Patrick said. “We’ve made huge strides to try to help the community recover from the event. And there’s still work to do, but hopefully we’ve made an impact on that community.”
The city is now offering funding to homeowners for help with plumbing or mechanical work for restoring gas service; electrical inspections; and repairs to HVAC systems, hot water heaters and electrical panels. Residents should call the City’s 3-1-1 service line to access this help.
“There were a lot of homeowners who did not have flood insurance or whose homeowners insurance was not going to cover replacement of some of those home appliances like a hot water heater or a heater or an AC unit, electrical boxes,” Patrick said. “So the Mayor’s office felt the need to step up and provide assistance.”
Residents can also call the City’s crisis hotline at 1-844-965-1386 to request help with cutting fallen trees, removing appliances and mitigating mold.
The state Department of Health and Social Services is still working with around 50 families hit by the flood and, as of Thursday, is paying for 22 of them to stay in hotels, officials say.
