Black residents of two Florida neighborhoods say they were left out of Hurricane Ian relief efforts

Parts of Florida still in the dark after Hurricane Ian hit 2:18 (CNN) — Latronia Latson said she feels she has been left out of Hurricane Ian recovery efforts.
Latson, who lives in the Dunbar neighborhood of Fort Myers, Florida, said she can’t get to an aid center for bottled water and other necessities that are distributed because she doesn’t have transportation; the bus system does not work in his neighborhood. Her stove and microwave also mysteriously stopped working after the hurricane, even though the power was restored. Latson said more affluent, predominantly white communities appear to be receiving priority in recovering from the storm. “They have to make it convenient for those without transportation,” said Latson, who has a disability. “We just don’t get the same service (as people from other parts of the city).” Latson is one of a number of Floridians and community leaders who say Naples’ poor, majority-black neighborhoods of Dunbar and River Park are being forgotten as rescue and relief teams descend on areas affected by Hurricane Ian. In the past week. Residents say they were among the last to have power restored and that shelters and aid centers are being set up too far away for people without access to vehicles. Fort Myers authorities did not immediately respond to these concerns when contacted by CNN. CNN has also contacted a spokesperson for the city of Naples and has not received a response. Resident complaints underscore the growing racial disparities in natural disaster recovery each time a major storm hits a part of the country. Several studies have revealed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides less help to people of color facing a catastrophe compared to whites. Poor communities and communities of color also tend to be built in places that are physically more vulnerable to extreme weather events and have less investment in their infrastructure, according to experts. Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged inequality when she spoke last week at the National Committee’s Women’s Leadership Forum. “It is our lower-income communities and our communities of color that are most affected by these extreme conditions and affected by issues that are none of their business,” Harris said. “And so we have to approach this in a way that is equity-based resourcing.” Deanne Criswell, administrator of FEMA, agreed that there are barriers to receiving federal resources. Criswell told CBS’s “Face the Nation” earlier this week that her office is working to create more equitable access to FEMA’s disaster aid programs. “One of our focus areas since I’ve been in office is making sure we’re removing those barriers,” Criswell said. “This way, these people who most need our help will be able to access the help we offer.” “Make things better for human beings,” activist says Black Florida residents and activists are asking authorities for more help. Collier County NAACP president Vincent Keeys said River Park residents were already more vulnerable because it’s a coastal community. The city of Naples, Keeys said, has worked to gentrify the area in recent years, but hasn’t built a levee that could provide more protection during hurricanes. Some residents complained they didn’t even get a notice to evacuate their homes ahead of the storm, Keeys said.The timing of the evacuation orders has been a point of contention for Florida officials since the hurricane.Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida County officials Lee, where Dunbar is located, acted appropriately when they issued their first mandatory evacuations less than 24 hours before Hurricane Ian made landfall in the state, and a day after several neighboring counties issued their orders. Lee County officials have faced mounting questions about why the first mandatory evacuations weren’t ordered until a day before Ian made landfall, despite an emergency plan that suggests the evacuations should have happened sooner. In River Park, many homes suffered 4-6 foot flooding, downed trees and structural damage. Keeys said there are no shelters near the neighborhood, leaving residents with nowhere to go if their homes are uninhabitable. “Please, you can’t put our people in a flood-prone situation and expect them to survive,” Keeys said. “At least, if it’s humanly possible, help us improve, plan and make things better for human beings.” Sharda Williams of River Park said she never received an evacuation order, but people in nearby communities were told to leave. “No one came to our neighborhood and told us to leave,” Williams said. “Not a single person.” Now Williams said the only thing she can do is “sit and wait until help arrives.” “You try to do what you can and so, you know, we’re trying to help each other out where we can,” she said. Curtis Williams (no relation to Sharda), another River Park resident, was also frustrated that he had not received an evacuation order. “Not a single city employee, police officer or whatever, came through the neighborhood before the floodwaters and said there was a mandatory evacuation, not one,” he said. “They could easily have come with a megaphone, before the cyclone, and said ‘you guys have to evacuate.’ They didn’t.” A Dunbar pastor said that while the black community hasn’t received much support from authorities, residents are leaning on each other to get through the recovery. “We’re trying to give some moral support, you know, with our neighbors and friends,” said Pastor Nicles Emile of the Galilee Baptist Church. “We are working to help our neighbors as much as we can and I can say that everything we have, we share with them.” — Randi Kaye, Andy Rose, Paradise Afshar and Steve Contorno contributed reporting.