Politics & Government
Florida Keys Hurricane Damage Not As Bad As Reported, Officials Say
FEMA estimated that a quarter of all homes had been destroyed by Hurricane Irma, but county officials say that number is likely too high.
KEY WEST, FL — County officials in the Florida Keys are pushing back against an initial estimate by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that 25 percent of homes were destroyed and nearly all the rest heavily damaged.
Monroe County Commissioner Heather Carruthers says "things look real damaged from the air, but when you clear the trees and all the debris, it's not much damage to the houses."
The lower Keys remain off-limits as crews check 42 bridges on the only highway to the mainland. (For more information about the recovery from Hurricane Irma, subscribe for free to the Miami Patch and receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you're outside of Miami, find your local Florida Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)
Find out what's happening in Miamifor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Watch: Hurricane Irma's Destructive Journey By The Numbers
Search-and-rescue teams haven't found casualties in door-to-door searches, but they're not entering shuttered homes.
Find out what's happening in Miamifor free with the latest updates from Patch.
FEMA officials had said that a quarter of homes in the Keys had been destroyed and another 65 percent were heavily damaged. According to these estimates, only 10 percent of homes in the area were spared substantial damage.
"Basically every house in the Keys was impacted," agency Administrator Brock Long said Tuesday.
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