Overdue
Insurance Reports, Displacement: Sandy
By Jillian
Macmath, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer
As the six-month mark
approaches since Sandy
Many have spent
months in the residences of family or friends or in hotels paid for by FEMA
while they await the arrival of insurance checks and reports. All the while,
flood zones have been in flux, and the mold continues to grow on the
foundations of badly-damaged homes along the coast.
Faith Liguori, a
year-round resident of Seaside Park Sandy Oct. 29, 2012 , her primary residence took on 5 feet of
water, forcing her and her husband, Brad Travis, to gut the entire first floor.
Liguori admits that
they stayed 'foolishly' throughout the storm.
"We stayed
because we were here for Irene and a lot of bad nor'easters and never had any
water in here. We had a little bit in the garage but that's easy. We never
expected this," she said.
Liguori’s neighborhood, like many, has been shifted to a
different flood zone in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. The zones designate an
area's susceptibility to flooding and wave action.
Once an 'A' zone, an
area where waves are expected to be low, Liguori's house now marks the
beginning of a 'V' zone, a zone indicative of an area which can receive waves
over 3 feet.
Homes in 'V' zones
are not permitted to have foundations that will obstruct water in a flood
scenario.
"The difference
is tremendous in what you have to do. In an 'A' zone, you can lift your house
up on blocks. In a 'V' zone, you must be on pilings, which are very
expensive," Liguori said.
"In order to do
that, you need to move your house, get it off of your property, you have to
bring in this giant machinery that pounds the pilings into the ground,"
she said.
Between pilings and
freeboard, Liguori's rebuilt house would sit 12 feet above the flood zone.
"The storm we
could handle. We can't handle this, FEMA. What the government says, we can't handle
that," Travis said.
Travis and Liguori's
insurance company said on Jan. 21, 2013 , that an insurance
report would be received within seven to 10 days, but it was not until late
March that it arrived, roughly five months post-storm.
"In
the beginning, people were like, 'Let's get this cleaned out. Let's put our
homes back together.' And then, the new information came out about the flood
maps, and the insurance rates went up, and what does that mean to you as a
homeowner? And then everyone stopped because no one knows the right thing to
do," Liguori said.
Many
who have received advanced checks from their insurance companies are hesitant
to use the money. Without a report, it is unclear what damage is covered and at
what amount the damages are valued.
While
federal mitigation grants are being made available by FEMA to assist with the
expense of raising a home, the funds are limited. Those who have already begun
the process of raising a home are not eligible.
"Your
home is the American dream. You work your whole life. That's where your
investment is and now people are facing the possibility that they may lose
their homes because they don't have the money to pay the higher cost of
insurance. They don't have the money to raise their homes. What do they
do?" Liguori asked.
The
couple insists that their situation is not unique. Thousands along the coast
face the task of rebuilding after Sandy
"I
mean the insurance companies are overwhelmed and I understand that; I don't
like it but I understand it," she said. "We need the insurance
companies to be more responsive, we need the mortgage companies to lighten up
on the paperwork, and truly we need FEMA to reconsider what it's doing."
Despite
businesses re-opening their doors and tourism season approaching, there is
still much of the Jersey Shore
"This
is really about families today. It's about how many people still need help. How
many houses can't be put back because families don't have their insurance reports,
don't have advance payments, don't know how to do it. There are still children
who are not in their homes, not on their buses, not in their classrooms."
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