Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Recovery Task Force (RTF)?
Hurricane Ian is ranked as one of the costliest U.S. disasters due to the devastating scope and scale of impacts throughout Southwest Florida. Ensuring that Lee County can recover and rebuild in a resilient manner is the priority.
In response to the massive and widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Ian, the Lee Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously to form the Recovery Task Force (RTF) based on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Disaster Recovery Framework.
The purpose of convening the RTF is to collaborate as a community, combining efforts to recover and rebuild in a resilient manner. Initially, the RTF will review and endorse priorities for consideration by the State Legislature and provide a unified voice for the interests of Lee County and its residents, businesses, and nonprofits.
All efforts are going into the development of the ResilientLee Recovery and Resilience Plan which aims to be a roadmap for a resilient recovery for the whole community.
Who Makes Up the Recovery Task Force?
The Recovery Task Force is composed of liaisons and jurisdictional leads from across the Lee County Region. Find out more about the Recovery Task Force Members here.
What are the Branches?
RTF consists of eight Branches that represent subject matter areas and topics, based on the national disaster recovery framework:
Planning & Capacity
Economic Recovery
Education & Workforce
Health & Social Services
Infrastructure
Housing
Natural Resources
Cultural Resources
Each Branch consists of a combination of private, public, non-profit, and business leaders, appointed by the RTF members, and confirmed by the Lee Board of County Commissioners. The Branches, although having their own specific focus area, are working in tandem to create viable, actionable, and desirable solutions.
Find out more about the Branches here.
Can I attend an RTF or Branch meeting?
Yes, RTF and Branch meetings are open to the public. Although most of the time during these meetings is reserved for RTF and Branch member discussion, time is allotted for public comment at the end of each meeting. Please find the schedule of public events here.
Where can I read about what is discussed during the RTF and Branch meetings?
Where can I learn more about the $1.1 billion in CDBG-DR funding allocated to Lee County?
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has directly allocated $1.1 billion in Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding to Lee County to assist with the county's long-term recovery. As the HUD Grantee, Lee County is responsible for CDBG-DR implementation. More information about this process can be found at https://www.leegov.com/recovery/cdbg-dr.
The RTF is supporting this process by serving as an advocate for strategic priorities to achieve recovery and resilience across all possible actions and policies. It also supports community outreach to identify unmet needs in the region and will help to identify different funding opportunities, such as CDBG-DR.
Where can I find more resources that can help me recover from Hurricane Ian?
Small Business Administration https://www.sba.gov/
Florida Division of Emergency Management http://floridadisaster.org
Lee County’s Ian Progress Report https://ianprogress.leegov.com/
MySafeFLHome https://mysafeflhome.com/
Financial Assistance Programs https://www.leegov.com/dhs/assistance/financial
United Way https://unitedwaylee.org/rdp/
Additional information on hurricane season prep is available at https://www.leegov.com/hurricane and www.leegov.com/storm
I want to help and stay engaged. What is the best way to do that?
We encourage you to stay connected as the Recovery Task Force and Branches continue their work throughout the year. There will be opportunities for the community to engage at various upcoming public meetings around Lee County. We encourage you to look for information about these upcoming meetings here. Additionally, if you would like to subscribe to emails from ResilientLee, please enter your email in the box below to stay informed.