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A Few Clouds Raising, rebuilding a battered community
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To comply with FEMA regulations, their house had to be raised a minimum of 11 feet above mean sea level. They raised it to 16 feet above mean sea level. “There’s a huge space underneath now where we can park four cars if we had them,” Gamache joked, “but we’re not allowed to use it for anything else but storage.”
Elevating
Further down the street, Jeff and Lina Wax’s house was inundated by 37 inches of floodwater during the hurricane, which demolished their first floor and its contents, but they were able to live on the second floor while they applied for permits. They moved out for three weeks in December 2012 when they had no electricity, and were displaced again last December for 7½ months while the house was being raised.
“We have received, with the exception of FEMA funds, nothing else,” said Lina. “Talking to NY Rising is a long and difficult process … it’s been a hard fight with them.”
Their neighbor a few doors down, Carl Zipperlen, said that his experience has been similar to the Waxes’. They began elevating their houses within two days of each other last December. Zipperlen and his dog, Lacey, have been staying with his parents in Valley Stream while work is being completed on his house.
“NY Rising doesn’t return phone calls,” Zipperlen said. “They switched case managers three times. The first one said to go ahead and get everything started, they’d get everything caught up — and this is just what I was afraid was going to happen. We’ve depleted our funds … went into savings and retirement funds. Doesn’t matter if we talk with technical advisors or specialists, we get the same thing — not much.”
“Everything changes from minute to minute,” Jeff Wax said. “But I must say, the Town of Hempstead was very helpful. NY Rising is the problem.”
“We’re at the end of our money,” Lina added. “We’ve borrowed funds, and we still have to make payments — but we’re excited to finally have doors and walls.”
In the planning stages
Deborah Levins, her husband, Tommy, and their now 13-year-old son, Chris, moved out for four months after the storm, which left three feet of water in their Lawson Avenue home in Bay Park. They made the necessary repairs with insurance money.
Elevating
Further down the street, Jeff and Lina Wax’s house was inundated by 37 inches of floodwater during the hurricane, which demolished their first floor and its contents, but they were able to live on the second floor while they applied for permits. They moved out for three weeks in December 2012 when they had no electricity, and were displaced again last December for 7½ months while the house was being raised.
“We have received, with the exception of FEMA funds, nothing else,” said Lina. “Talking to NY Rising is a long and difficult process … it’s been a hard fight with them.”
Their neighbor a few doors down, Carl Zipperlen, said that his experience has been similar to the Waxes’. They began elevating their houses within two days of each other last December. Zipperlen and his dog, Lacey, have been staying with his parents in Valley Stream while work is being completed on his house.
“NY Rising doesn’t return phone calls,” Zipperlen said. “They switched case managers three times. The first one said to go ahead and get everything started, they’d get everything caught up — and this is just what I was afraid was going to happen. We’ve depleted our funds … went into savings and retirement funds. Doesn’t matter if we talk with technical advisors or specialists, we get the same thing — not much.”
“Everything changes from minute to minute,” Jeff Wax said. “But I must say, the Town of Hempstead was very helpful. NY Rising is the problem.”
“We’re at the end of our money,” Lina added. “We’ve borrowed funds, and we still have to make payments — but we’re excited to finally have doors and walls.”
In the planning stages
Deborah Levins, her husband, Tommy, and their now 13-year-old son, Chris, moved out for four months after the storm, which left three feet of water in their Lawson Avenue home in Bay Park. They made the necessary repairs with insurance money.
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