Population
Households
Median Income in Dollars
- Damage by Type Electrical Power Outage 80.0%
- Water Damage 25.7%
- Roof Damage 14.3%
- Source of Repair Funds FEMA 20.9%
- Home Insurance 18.6%
- Other Funding Source 14%
- Renters Insurance 9%
- Source of Information Government 41.9%
- Social Media 32.3%
- Family/Friends 13%
%
Percent Who Knew Where to Get Sandbags
%
Percent Who Knew How to get to an Emergency Shelter
%
Percent Who Knew What to Take to an Emergency Shelter
%
Percent Who Knew How to Comply with a Boil Water Order
Respondents ranked 26 different functions that are critical for a society to function. The rankings were from 1, which was “Most Vulnerable.” to 7, which was “Resilient and Sustainable.”
The 5 societal functions to the right had the lowest rankings, which appear in parentheses next to the function description.
- Top 5 Priority Gaps Identified Renewable vs Grid Energy (1.75)
- Energy – Lighting & Cooking (2.60)
- Agricultural Production Scale (2.60)
- Data & Information Management (3.00)
- Energy-Temperature Management (3.00)
Top 10 Osceola County Hazards
Tropical Cyclones Severe Thunderstorm
Flooding Pandemic
Tornado Agricultural/Livestock Disease
Wildfire Hazmat Release
Terrorism Sinkhole
* Identified by Osceola County Department of Emergency Management
Brownfield Sites (5/2019)
Active Petroleum Clean-up Sites (5/2019)
Pending Petroleum Cleanup Sites (5/2019)
What Kissimmee Residents Are Saying
“How can I help my neighborhood?”
“How to improve our water?”
“How we [can] have more transportation?”
“We need more security.”
“[need]more ways to communicate with community”
“There is no law for the landlords.”
“Rent is too high.”
“2 or 3 families [are] living together so they can afford rent.”
“More information is needed.”
“Roof damaged”
“Water pipes broke. They fixed now.”
“Flooding and wall damage”
Frequently Asked Questions
What were the top vulnerabilities identified in the Mission Critical Functions Surveys?
- Renewable vs Grid Energy
- Energy – Lighting & Cooking
- Agricultural Production Scale
- Data & Information Management
- Energy – Temperature Management
What were the top concerns discussed at the Community Forum?
- “They have no clue what they have to do to be prepared for a disaster.”
- Housing affordability is an issue. Rent is too high. Need apartments for low-income that people can afford.Puerto Ricans from Hurricane Maria had to return to Puerto Rico because housing was too expensive. Living wages are not enough to cover housing.
- People don’t want to leave their homes to go to the church in a disaster because they are afraid people will break into their homes and steal their things. They want more security in their communities.
What are the community's proposed solutions for priority concerns and the resources needed to address them?
1.More meetings with the community to get them information. All Community Captains need to schedule more meetings and get people interested in how to improve our community.
2. Do the meetings in Spanish. 80% of people don’t speak English. We need all information in Spanish.
3. When it floods there is a concern for bacteria because the drainage system is not maintained by the city, and people throw trash on the ground.Inform the community that the trash can cause contamination with the water.
4. Have rent control that is based on family income and stop annual rent increases.
Florida Disaster Resilience Initiative Report: Kissimmee
Contact Janice T. Booher, MS at JJLBooher@comcast.net or Joanne Perodin, MPH at Joanne.Perodin@gmail.com with questions.
This website is maintained by Unitarian Universalist Justice Florida’s Climate Resilience Ministry. It was established by the Green Sanctuary Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Boca Raton under EPA Grant #EQ-00D35415-0. Surveys discussed on this page were conducted under the auspices of Health Initiatives Foundation, Inc.’s Florida Disaster Resilience Initiative with funding from The Miami Foundation.
Website designed and maintained by Janice T. Booher, M.S.