This browser does not support the Video element.
Brevard resident hospitalized and home gutted after floods
A 72-year-old woman was left hospitalized after last Monday's 1000 year rainfall. Judith Vega's home was completely flooded with water reaching up to five feet. Vega's daughter Julie has lived in her home since she was five-years-old, she says nothing has compared to this.
PALM BAY, Fla. - Families in Brevard County are desperate for federal funding and help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after deadly flash floods devastated Central Florida.
More than a week after the storms, cleanup is far from over, and rebuilding won’t be easy for families on fixed incomes.
‘Everything is just demolished’
The backstory:
Several elderly residents live on the street, many of whom lost everything and now face the daunting reality of rebuilding without financial safety nets.
"This is a blue-collar neighborhood," said resident Julie Angulo. "She is SSI to SSI. You know what I mean? She doesn't have the money."
For Angulo’s 72-year-old mother, Judith Vega, there is no home left to return to. The property was fully paid off, but like many longtime homeowners in the area, it had no active flood insurance or insurance at all.
"We don’t even have home insurance," Angulo said. "We paid off this house and that’s it."
Walking through the gutted shell of her childhood home, Angulo pointed to the bare studs and stripped floors.
"Everything is just demolished. No good anymore, the only thing are the pictures on the wall," she said.
Vega survived the flood thanks to a good Samaritan who navigated the rising water in a kayak to rescue her through a window. Vega does not know how to swim; water lines marking the property’s back fence reached nearly five feet.
"They couldn’t get to me at all," Vega recalled.
Speaking from a hospital room where she has been admitted since the rescue, Vega explained that she suffered a hernia during the escape, adding physical injury to overwhelming emotional distress.
"Forty years I lived in that house, never had experience like that," Vega said. "All my memories, children stuff, everything is lost."
The Push for Federal Relief
What's next:
Securing rapid federal disaster aid has proven uniquely complicated because the flooding was caused by an unnamed, record-breaking flash flood event rather than a named tropical system.
"Unlike a hurricane, this was not a named storm," said U.S. Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Florida.
Florida’s governor has formally requested a federal disaster declaration, and Haridopolos said he continues pushing to get the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on the ground as quickly as possible.
"Because this was an unnamed storm, we didn't have the usual situation like we would deal with in a hurricane, so we took our time," Haridopolos explained. "We made sure people were well-informed."
Federal disaster relief currently hinges on final presidential approval.
County officials urge all affected residents to thoroughly document their damage and submit self-reporting assessments through Brevard County’s emergency management portal, as verified local data is critical to substantiating Florida’s case for federal aid.
You can make damage submissions by clicking here. The form will also connect people to volunteers that can assist with cleanup.
How to help
What you can do:
Julie’s family is fundraising to help her mom rebuild. You can learn more about that by clicking here.
The Source: FOX 35 Reporter Esther Bower visited Badger Drive NE on Nov. 10, 2026. She also spoke with the Florida Congressman via zoom. She has been covering the flash floods since they first happened in early November.