ORLANDO, Fla. — More than a year after hurricanes Ian and Nicole hit Central Florida, some homeowners are still recovering. For one homeowner in New Smyrna Beach, this Thanksgiving meant dealing with new challenges.

What You Need To Know

  • More than a year after hurricanes Ian and Nicole hit Central Florida, some homeowners are still recovering

  • Despite spending most of the last year rebuilding her entire home, Ryann Thacker says she’s still dealing with problems 

  • Thacker says he doesn’t have much money left after she says she had to spend thousands of dollars of her own money to cover what FEMA money didn’t. 

Despite spending most of the last year rebuilding her entire home, Ryann Thacker says she’s still dealing with problems. She says her hurricane-damaged roof is now leaking.

“The ceiling is literally like falling apart,” said Thacker. “Makes me feel like it’s a never-ending nightmare. Every time it rains, I just cringe and pray that water doesn’t come in.”

An old piece of furniture from her grandfather was one of the few things she could salvage after Hurricane Ian sent several feet of floodwater into her home. She says she’ll never forget the moment when most of her belongings, taken out to the curb as trash, were taken away.

“Watching everything that we had worked so hard for, and sentimental things and you know just stuff going in the garbage, it broke my heart, literally, I started crying and it made me really sad,” said Thacker. 

The past year has tested Thacker in many ways. She finds herself spending more and more time at her desk crunching the numbers, only to realize she doesn’t have much savings left after she says she had to spend thousands of dollars of her own money to cover what FEMA money didn’t.

“It’s taken a toll on the bank account for sure,” said Thacker. “I’m struggling a little bit, it’s been a tough year, definitely tough.”

Thacker not only has her four sons to provide for. She also runs a daycare, which she managed to reopen just two weeks after Ian, and she kept the business running while rebuilding her home.

“I stapled a material along the wall so you didn’t know the wall was gone, it went all the way around the whole room, and then I put a bunch rugs on the floor to cover up the concrete,” said Thacker. “And then it was little by little day by day and we knocked things out.”

Last year Thacker preparing her family’s Thanksgiving dinner despite the fact her home, and entire kitchen, was gutted. She prepared much of the meal in other people’s kitchens and had to use portable appliances.

“The kids and I had to learn some survival skills, you know,” said Thacker. 

She now has a working kitchen. But she says with money tight, affording the Thanksgiving food for this year’s meal was a challenge. She was hoping to get help from a local food pantry.

“I’m super excited about this year because we’ll be able to cook here and I don’t have to transfer food from one place to the other and I can cook everything in one place. And my kids will be here,” said Thacker.