United States – When Hurricane Idalia struck Florida in August 2023, Timothy Franklin and his family lost both their main house and guest house to storm surge. Over the next nine months, they rebuilt the property carefully, replacing plumbing, electrical systems, flooring, cabinets and the small details that made the house feel like home again.
One month after the work was finished, Hurricane Helene arrived in September 2024 and flooded the property all over again.
Franklin tells the story of those back-to-back losses in Drowned Twice: First by Water, Then by Red Tape, The Survivor’s Guide to the Fight After Natural Disaster, published by Redemption Hill Publishing. Part personal account and part practical handbook, the book looks beyond the moment a hurricane makes landfall and focuses on the long, confusing fight that begins after the water recedes.
The first disaster destroyed the family’s home. The second exposed how difficult it can be to recover while dealing with insurance exclusions, delayed payments, mortgage obligations, temporary housing, contractors, permits and the emotional strain of rebuilding.
Franklin writes from the perspective of a homeowner who believed he had prepared responsibly. He had insurance, kept records, paid his mortgage and followed the required procedures. Even so, he discovered that many of the protections he expected were limited by exclusions, coverage caps and complicated policy language.
That discovery became one of the reasons he wrote the book.
“I didn’t write this to relive a nightmare. I wrote it to hand you a flashlight,” Franklin says.
Drowned Twice begins with the shock of waking to saltwater inside the home and follows the family through two major rebuilding efforts. Franklin describes the numbness of walking through rooms filled with damaged furniture, buckled floors and ruined belongings. He also writes about the less visible losses, including privacy, routine, sleep, work, financial security and the belief that home will always be a safe place.
The book does not present recovery as a neat comeback story. Franklin is honest about exhaustion, anger and the pressure placed on a family when every decision carries a financial consequence. He recalls living in a trailer, managing repairs, fighting for claim payments and continuing to meet obligations connected to a house that could not be lived in.
He also shares the role played by friends, family members and professionals who stepped in when the process became too much to carry alone.
Franklin’s background in construction, engineering and manufacturing gives him a practical view of repair estimates and rebuilding costs. Before the hurricanes, he had built a career across those industries and later started his own consulting firm. After Idalia, he took on much of the rebuilding process himself, coordinating subcontractors, sourcing materials and tracking the widening gap between real expenses and insurance estimates.
In the book, he examines how estimates can fail to reflect contractor shortages, post-disaster price increases, specialty work and the actual cost of materials. He discusses the importance of requesting complete line-item estimates, documenting every loss and understanding that an insurer’s first figure may not be the final word.
He also recounts his experiences with a public adjuster, an insurance attorney, mold-remediation contractors and an SBA disaster loan.
The book repeatedly returns to one warning: homeowners should understand their policies before they need to use them. Franklin explains how flood coverage can differ sharply from standard homeowners’ insurance and how detached structures, tools, outdoor equipment, personal property and additional living expenses may not be covered in the way a policyholder assumes.
His experience with the guest house and business-related tools showed him how quickly a technical classification can turn into a major personal loss.
Drowned Twice also looks closely at the role of banks and mortgage servicers after a disaster. Franklin describes continuing mortgage demands, complicated hardship paperwork, delayed releases of insurance funds and the risks attached to temporary forbearance.
He encourages readers to ask how deferred payments will be handled, whether interest will continue to accumulate and what documentation will be required before relief is approved. These are questions many homeowners do not know to ask until they are already displaced and under financial pressure.
While the book is direct about institutional failures, it is not limited to criticism. Its later chapters focus on rebuilding daily life and protecting mental health when recovery stretches from weeks into months.
Franklin discusses the value of routine, humour, faith, rest and a dependable support network. He encourages survivors to set small goals, track their progress and accept that recovery rarely moves in a straight line.
The final section offers a guide for storm survivors, including checklists for the period before, during and after a disaster. Readers are encouraged to photograph their property, store records in more than one place, review policy exclusions, prepare emergency contacts and speak with lenders before a crisis occurs.
After a storm, Franklin recommends documenting damage before cleanup begins, saving receipts, keeping written records of every conversation and avoiding rushed agreements with contractors or claim representatives.
The guidance extends beyond hurricanes. Franklin makes clear that the same financial and bureaucratic problems can affect people recovering from floods, wildfires, tornadoes, earthquakes and other natural disasters.
The book is written for homeowners, families, business owners and anyone who wants to prepare for the part of disaster recovery that emergency kits do not cover.
At its center, Drowned Twice is also a family story. Franklin credits his wife’s support, humour and reality checks with helping him continue when the strain became overwhelming. He writes about neighbours who offered shelter and practical help, parents who arrived to assist with the work and friends who connected him with people capable of challenging the system.
These relationships reinforce one of the book’s central beliefs: home is not only a building. It is also the people who remain beside you when the building is gone.
Franklin does not claim to offer legal, financial or insurance advice. Instead, he presents the lessons he learned through direct experience and urges readers to research the rules in their own states and consult qualified professionals before making major decisions.
His aim is to help readers ask better questions, recognise warning signs and enter the recovery process with fewer dangerous assumptions.
Drowned Twice: First by Water, Then by Red Tape is published by Redemption Hill Publishing. Further information about the book, including purchasing details and upcoming events, will be available through the publisher.
About Timothy Franklin
Timothy Franklin is a business owner and consultant with professional experience in construction, engineering and manufacturing. After losing his Florida home to Hurricane Idalia, rebuilding it and then losing it again to Hurricane Helene, he began documenting the financial, emotional and bureaucratic realities of disaster recovery.
In Drowned Twice, he turns those experiences into a practical guide for homeowners and survivors facing the difficult fight that begins after the storm.
For more details, contact:
Timothy Franklin
Website: www.afterthestormtruth.com
Facebook: Timothy-Franklin/61590908392658/
Instagram: @afterthestormtruth/
Media ContactCompany Name: Global Writing ServicesContact Person: Media Relations DepartmentEmail: Send EmailCity: FarmingdaleState: New YorkCountry: United StatesWebsite: www.globalwritingservices.com
