FORT PIERCE, Fla. — It’s been weeks since Hurricane Milton’s tornadoes devastated neighborhoods in St. Lucia.

Many residents are still looking for help. Several of them showed up at a state-organized town hall for tornado victims in St. Lucia.

“When you see it in person and experience it in person, it’s devastating,” Melanie Hardegree said.

Hardegree lives in The Spanish Lakes. Her house suffered serious damage.

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“I need a new roof,” she said. “All my gutters are gone. There was a house behind my house. It wrapped itself around the tree in my yard. One of my neighbors died there.”

Milton destroyed 150 homes in St. Lucia. That’s why the executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management was there to offer advice on the recovery process.

“My advice to you is to go all the way. You register with FEMA, individual assistance, you go to nonprofits, you go to the Small Business Administration,” said Kevin Guthrie, FDEM executive director.

Hardegree wasn’t just there for herself. She was there to help her neighbors who had lost everything.

“I asked specifically, now her situation has changed,” she said. “He originally applied thinking he was going to fix his house and now it’s a situation where he’s not going to be able to live in that house.”

Today she got an answer to her question.

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“Make sure you keep your record up to date, no matter what, keep it up to date. As your circumstances change, you may actually be eligible for more programs and funding,” Guthrie explained.

For these residents, there is still a long way to go on the road to recovery, but each day is one step closer.

“I think if everybody keeps trying to love each other and be there for each other, we can get through anything,” Hardegree said.