RIVERVIEW, Fla. (WFLA) — Bill Johnson grew up on Parkway Circle in Riverview and has lived there most of his life, seeing a number of hurricanes in that time.

“I’ve seen just about all of them that came through here or close to here,” said Johnson.

The street ends at the bank of the Alafia River and during Hurricane Idalia, the river came up over its banks and into the homes of many of Johnson’s neighbors.

“Everybody had drywall damage, flood damage,” said Johnson.

Across the street from his home, Michelle Riggs and her husband had damage in their home from the storm.

“It’s no fun. It’s a lot of work preparing and it’s a lot of work for clean up,” said Riggs.

Despite this, FEMA has not yet declared this area, or anywhere else in Hillsborough County, as a disaster area.

“I don’t know why they haven’t claimed this area for disaster, especially if they’ve been out here,” said Riggs.

Without the federal designation, people with damage can not receive the FEMA benefits.

“So, what we continue to do is to collect the data as people continue to self report and also from the code enforcement teams from the city and the county,” said C.K. Moore with Hillsborough County.

Moore said people with damage should report it through the county web site and that will allow them to submit the information through the state to receive the disaster designation from FEMA.

“So, if a declaration is made and what they will be able to do is, they will be able to apply for FEMA assistance through the Federal Government and that allows them to meet those unmet needs like trying to get repairs,” said Moore.