After weeks of delays, Florida woman finally receives permit to fix flooded house

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla - After waiting weeks, a New Smyrna Beach woman finally received a permit to continue work on her home that was flooded during Hurricane Ian.

Like many others, Heidi Lowe had two feet of water in her home after the storm.

As soon as she could, she started working on it, removing drywall and flooring.

"We were told we could no longer continue doing what we were doing until we had a permit from the city," Lowe said. "It stopped everything."

Lowe had a contractor lined up ready to start making repairs.

But she had to wait more than two weeks to get a permit from the city.

"We’ve been living here just kinda looking around, wondering, you know, how much longer until we can start, because we can’t get over it until we even start," Lowe said.

The city told FOX 35 inspectors have been working as quickly as possible to get permits done, visiting up to 100 homes each day.

The day after FOX 35 originally spoke with Lowe, she says she got a call that her permit was ready.

"We got the permit in hand today." Lowe said. "Right after this aired. So, I’m definitely grateful. I’m excited."

Lowe's contractor is planning to get to work Friday morning.

She says it could take about two months to fix everything.