weeks since hurricane ian hit florida, and the pile of garbage and debris around kimberly s neighborhood and outside her north ft. myers house grows by the day. most of what she owned is ruined. and most of the home she lived in for 17 years is gone. we first met here last month, days after the storm. this is my home. reporter: she is living in a rented rv parked in her yard. all these areas that hug up to the river, you go back there and nothing has been cleaned up. reporter: kianna and her two kids are living at a shelter, their second after ian left them without a place to call home. she said she turned down fema money over fears the financial hub will not be there forever. instead, she s hoping the red cross can help her find a permanent place to stay. what happens if home isn t here in ft. myers? i m willing to relocate. i don t have to be here.
there, there s nothing s been cleaned up. reporter: across town, kiana tobler and her two kids are among the 512 people living at this shelter. it s their second shelter after ian left them without a place to call home. she said she turned down fema money to pay for a hotel over fears the financial hub will not be there forever. instead, she s hoping the red cross can find her a permanent place to stay. what happens if home isn t here in fort myers? i m ready to relocate. i don t have to be here. wherever i can go for me and my kids to be in a stable, safe situation and environment of our own, i m all for that. reporter: a month into the recovery effort and parts of lee county, including fort myers beach, still don t have power and running water. access across the sanibel causeway remains limited, and not all schools have reopened. according to fema, more than $1.2 billion in federal grants, disaster loans, and flood insurance payments have been made to the state of florida and
this shelter, their second after ian left them without a place to turn home. she said she turned down fema over to pay for a hotel, instead she s hoping the red cross can find her a permanent place to stay. what happens if home isn t here in fort myers? i m willing to relocate. wherever i can go for me and my kids to be in a stable environment of my own i m all for that. reporter: into a month of recovery efforts and parts of lee county still don t have power and running water. access across the sanibel causeway remains limited and not all schools have reopened. more than 1. $2 billion in grants, loans and federal aid has been made. now whether the aid is enough or been distributed fairly, depends on who you ask. we got assistance from fema,
let s go about 65 miles south to ft. myers beach where we find jim acosta. you were out again today touring the area. what did you see and what will people tell you? reporter: it is just absolutely heartbreaking. when you talk to people in this area. they re going back to their homes. some of these folks did evacuate and when they go back to their homes they re just finding heartbreaking scene. homes filled with mud and sometimes the home isn t there at all. maybe the ground level of the home was wiped out and so on. and it is just absolutely depressing. you look at the video that we re showing you right now. this is one street that we went down in bonita springs. you see how the storm surge picked up the mud and dumped it into the street and this is what the communities look like. this is the scene up and down the southwest florida coast. but in addition to the heartbreaking scenes an the sad stories that we re hearing from residents, you re also hearing some remarkable tales of cou