Overcoming the post-Sandy struggles

Rebuilding and repairing storm damages continues

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Homeowners in communities such as Meadowmere Park and Inwood continue to rebuild and repair their homes nearly two years after Hurricane Sandy.
On the front lawn of Joyce Roman’s house on West Avenue in Meadowmere Park, much debris remains from the Oct. 29, 2012 storm that brought three and a half of water inside the house her family has lived in for 13 years.
The damage forced her and husband, Gerard, to live apart for several months. She and their children, Kaitlyn, 13, Jerry, 11 and Shane, 7, lived in an apartment in Lawrence and Gerard stayed upstairs in the house with no heat and no power for two months.
“It was frustrating at first,” Joyce said, as she stood in her living room and looked at her nearly completed kitchen. “The kids had no books, no toys. Now, we are finally able to buy a kitchen table.”
Insurance covered some expenses, but new cabinets and a refrigerator were bought out-of-pocket, and a counter top was re-used, she said. Along with finishing the downstairs, Joyce said they are applying for NY Rising money to raise the house. NY Rising is an interim state agency that was set up to distribute federal funds after Sandy.
Asked why not move to another community, away from the water, she said. “My husband grew up here, lived his whole life here,” Joyce said. “This is our home. The kids love it here.”
Loving where they live was a refrain for Inwood residents Adeline Ferrandi and Santa Haanraadts. Both homes that are less than one-tenth of a mile from the Inwood Marina were severely damaged in Sandy, but through a slow and steady process that includes cobbling together money, receiving assistance and working on their own, the neighbors are living in their homes.
“I never in 30 years did I see that much water,” said Ferrandi, who was out of her Chestnut Road home for several months and lived with one of her daughters. “I never heard of flood insurance, this never happened before.”

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