FEMA extends hotel stay for Sandy victims

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“You’re stuck — you just don’t know what you’re going to do,” she said. “But a lot of people are in the same boat; there are people with children here, an elderly woman with a walker from Freeport, and you don’t know how they are managing.”

Like many residents, Graham has yet to receive a reimbursement from her insurance company — she has already spent more than $10,000 of her own money to cleanup and make repairs to her home — and has hired a public adjuster to fight on her behalf.

“I have the highest policy that you can have, but the adjuster from Travelers [Insurance] came on Nov. 20 and we haven’t gotten a quote yet,” she said. “Between FEMA and insurance, it’s a fulltime job, and I am so overwhelmed with the whole thing.”

Allegria Hotel opens its doors to Sandy victims

Resident Peggy Mahoney has been staying at the Allegria Hotel, which she said is participating in the FEMA program, with her 11-year-old son, Jimmy, since last Thursday. She said she is unable to return to her co-op at Seaview Terrace on West Broadway, which is currently undergoing repairs.

“I was approved for a hotel since the hurricane, I just never used it,” Mahoney said, adding that she had been living in her brother’s basement in Rockville Centre since the storm. She explained that she wanted a place with better living conditions for her son, who is a diabetic, and to be closer to his school.

When Mahoney made her reservation at the Allegria, she explained that the hotel had informed her that checkout for FEMA guests was scheduled for Friday, Jan. 11, at 11 a.m.

“We were waiting to hear that the government would allow the hotel to continue the program … and that we could stay,” she added.

However, Mahoney said that FEMA representatives visited the hotel on Thursday and informed her and others that check out was set for Sunday.

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