When Hurricane Ian struck two years ago, Jean Brower, 76, and her husband James, 88, slept in a hotel for over two weeks after their Kissimmee Village mobile home park flooded.

“The water was six inches from my home and that would have devastated us completely,” she said. “We had to pay for the hotels ourselves, which is why we slept in the car sometimes, and finally we snuck back in [to the home] and stayed the last five days without water or anything.”

They and other residents are back in the Good Samaritan Society’s park. But now they’re engaged in a much longer wait for relief, as 25 lawsuits move through the courts alleging negligence by the park owner for failing to protect against flood damage, and seeking $5,000 to $10,000 in compensation.

John Martino, director of litigation for Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida and the attorney for most of the cases, said that amounts sought are small compared to the trauma endured.

“These are not cases that have crazy-high dollar amounts … but we want to do everything we can to help these individuals get compensated for the personal property they lost,” Martino said.

Aimee Middleton, chief operating officer at Good Samaritan Society, said by email the organization is committed to helping residents but she wouldn’t answer questions about lawsuits.

“We cannot discuss ongoing litigation at the Good Samaritan Society – Kissimmee Village,” Middleton said.

The Good Samaritan community was devastated when Ian made landfall Sept. 28, 2022, near Fort Myers as a strong Category 4 with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph. It dumped 18 inches of rain that engulfed the community and displaced 523 residents.

On the second anniversary of Ian the impacts are still visible — empty lots sit where mobile homes and apartments once were — and failed attempts at legislation to protect renters from flood damage have diminished residents’ spirits.

Mary, who didn’t want her last name used over fears of retribution by Good Samaritan, has lived in the community for over eight years. In 2017, Hurricane Irma’s power winds ripped off her front awning — but damage was significantly worse during Ian.

Flooding damaged the air-conditioning unit beneath her mobile home and a leak in the roof ruined portions of her carpeted floor.

“There were tree branches in the air conditioner and all the piping underneath had to be replaced,” she said. “The roof started to leak and my laptop was right under it so, of course, I lost my laptop as well.”

There are currently 24 state lawsuits and one federal from current and former residents against the community’s parent company, Sanford Health, with the first filed in early 2023 and the latest in July. Lawyers for the litigants said their clients are still in vulnerable positions and did not want to speak. The Browers and Mary are not part of the lawsuits.

The state lawsuits by mostly former residents are still in the discovery stage and claim negligence and failure to disclose the community’s risk of flooding.

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The community flooded for the first time during Irma. The lawsuits claim the senior care organization lied about flooding risks and took no significant mitigation efforts to prevent future flood damage.

“We’re hoping that by bringing these cases and trying to hold these particular corporations responsible for what transpired in 2022, that other housing developments can warn their residents of flooding before they move them in,” Martino said. “Had Good Samaritan employees given adequate warnings to residents, we probably would not be here today.”

The federal suit by a former resident claims Sanford Health violated a section of the federal Fair Housing Act that specifically relates to individuals with limited English proficiency. The suit seeks punitive and compensatory damages similar to the others.

According to court documents, Good Samaritan housed many survivors of 2017’s Hurricane Maria who fled Puerto Rico in search of affordable housing but couldn’t speak English. Records said that when information about flood conditions were sent to residents in English, those who weren’t proficient suffered.

“Particularly in Florida, and an area like Osceola County and the city of Kissimmee, we do have a lot of Hispanic residents,” said Morgan Cardinal, who represents the client in the federal case.

Cardinal said she hopes the suit motivates more housing providers to provide information to residents in Spanish — a common language in the state — so everyone can make informed decisions on how much risk they’re willing to assume.

Residents hope for some relief from future flooding because of a county-initiated study about the Shingle Creek Basin area — the Everglades’ headwater that runs along Good Samaritan and contributes to flooding. The study aims to assess stormwater improvement needs and identify five capital improvement projects and up to 10 small maintenance projects to help address flood mitigation.

Tom Alexander, spokesman for Osceola County, said by email that the portion of the study that analyzed the basin’s existing conditions is done but work is just starting to look at prioritizing proposed projects.

Those who filed lawsuits have faced other challenges, as well.

Many fled the community and have had difficulty finding affordable housing in Central Florida, Martino said. Some are still looking for places to live.

“There are scars, not just financial ones from what took place, but emotional and mental,” he said. “You know this is the place that they expected to live the rest of their lives.”

A stroke in January 2023 that Brower said was caused by stress of the hurricane has left her using a wheelchair. She worries about her and her husband evacuating in time if there’s another hurricane.

Despite everything, they still hope to live the rest of their lives at Good Samaritan.

“We’re at the age where we cannot move again and we don’t have the funds to do it or the health to do it,” she said. “We’re trying as residents to work together to rebuild a good community back to where it was.”

Mary said the community just isn’t the same since Ian.

“I have seen turtles laying eggs in places that used to be apartments,” she said. “It’s a sad place now. People are really grumpy and grouchy and our activities department has slowly taken away everything.”