Gigi Stetler, founder and CEO of PlanetRV in Broward,Florida, and her staff are receiving 50 to 60 calls a day, plus Facebook messages, from people affected by Hurricane Ian, the Category 4 Atlantic hurricane that made landfall on the west coast of Florida on Sept. 28.
On Sept. 29, Stetler and her team sent 17 RVs to western Florida to house hurricane first responders. Once the first responders are done with the first wave of the rescue effort, those RVs will be sent back to the dealership for cleaning. They will then be rented out to residents who have lost their homes.
Stetler has a reputation for helping with disaster relief. Affected herself by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Stetler acted quickly to send help during Andrew’s aftermath.
“I went to rescue first responders and the news media,” she said. “They had no place to stay. So, I sent all of my inventory down there.”
Over the years, after Hurricanes Charlie, Katrina and Irma, Stetler worked with insurance companies and FEMA to get homeless and stranded people supplies and housing.
In March 2021, PlanetRV/Brower RV was hit by a devastating fire. The dealership had to move and rebuild. She sold much of her rental inventory. For that reason, she has fewer RVs this year to send to help Hurricane Ian survivors.
Stetler said she and her staff have been putting in long days answering phones at the dealership and offering consumers advice.
Consumers turn to her, in part, because she founded the RV Advisor Consumer Association (RVACA) about 30 years ago. The nonprofit organization provides RV temporary housing, food and supplies to those impacted by natural disasters or medical conditions.
The RVACA works to create policies and practices to protect RV consumers. The association also acts as a mediator for consumers between dealers and manufacturers.
Stetler said consumers in crisis need help understanding how their benefits work and what they are entitled to in a disaster.
“It is very tricky, insurance,” Stetler said. “You must know your way around policies and how to read your policy and be careful… People do not know what they do not know.”
Those impacted by the hurricane are having difficulty finding accommodations for miles. Insurance companies often do not understand what resources are available in the local community, she said. Housing in Florida is expensive and scarce.
Stetler said she advocates with insurance companies for RVs to be used as temporary housing instead of displacing homeowners far outside their original communities in hotels. In Florida, for example, families can be housed much more affordably on the state’s west coast than on the east coast, she said.
For a family of six, it can cost about $122 a day to live in an RV, Stetler said. When some insurance adjustors have denied the cost, she pushes back. A family that lives in an RV can cook and clean for themselves, eliminating the need to turn in insurance receipts for food and laundry.
“There is no way that (an insurance company) could house a family of six, and a couple of animals for that kind of money,” Stetler said.
Stetler is in discussions with private landowners who have 5–6-acre parcels of land on Florida’s west coast. She said she hopes the land can be used to park RVs for temporary housing.
The RVACA is collecting funds specifically for Hurricane Ian disaster relief. To donate, click here.
