All Hands and Hearts helps Ridge Manor resident rebuild flooded home

All Hands and Hearts is helping Tommy rebuild his Ridge Manor home after November 2024 floodwater pushed 4 feet of contaminated water through the house, a damage level that turned a family home into a long-term recovery project. More than a year later, many homes in the area are still not repaired, a sign of how slowly the cost of the 2024 storms is still being paid across Hernando County.

The nonprofit said its Florida Hurricanes Helene and Milton Relief program began in September 2024 and has focused on cleanup, debris removal, muck-and-gut work, mold sanitation and rebuilding. In Florida, the group says it has supported more than 1,100 people, mucked and gutted more than 90 homes and businesses, and made more than 150 residences safe again. It also says Helene and Milton damaged or destroyed more than 35,000 homes across Florida and North Carolina and displaced more than 40,000 people.

For Ridge Manor, the recovery has been as much about access as it has been about damage. Local contractors have been helping with bathroom work, air-conditioning repairs and kitchen restoration, the kinds of jobs that can stall a return home when supplies are tight, costs rise or specialists are booked. That leaves families living with unfinished interiors long after the water has receded.

Hernando County tried to meet the immediate need with both emergency and rebuilding support. The county opened a Family Resource Center at the Ridge Manor Community Center, 34240 Cortez Blvd., Ridge Manor, FL 33523, and previously used the same site as a sandbag distribution point when the Withlacoochee River rose in October 2024. County notices warned that the river at the Trilby gauge was being watched ahead of Hurricane Milton and was expected to crest around 16 feet. Another county flood notice said the river had reached 12.31 feet and was expected to crest at 12.5 feet over the weekend before receding.

County officials and the Federal Emergency Management Agency also held a property-restoration town hall on November 20, 2024, at Eastside Elementary School Cafeteria, where the focus was on restoring storm-damaged homes and rebuilding to flood-resistant standards. Hernando County’s flood information page warns that flooding can affect homes outside designated flood zones, a reminder that the next storm will not stop at the edge of a map.