Raising, rebuilding a battered community

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Now, through NY Rising, they are planning to raise their house, even though they are not required to do so.

“We have to figure out the scope of work and submit the costs to NY Rising to see if we can get the other half of the money,” Deborah said. “There are so many changes in the process now, and it’s so slow.” So far, she said, they have spent close to $9,000 of their own money.

“We’re going up six feet altogether, from the height of the sidewalk, and we’re doing it basic,” she said. “Sandy depleted much of our own money.”

“I’m on my fifth case worker,” she added. “We got the first half of the NY Rising money for the elevation, and our insurance company has paid out the rest. You need to stay on top of it.”

Levins said that, for the sake of the community, she hopes to see more houses being rebuilt in the coming months. “It’s just a waiting game,” she said.

The storm and its aftermath
    Sandy’s storm surge pushed seawater into the Mill River and Bay Park’s creeks and inlets, overflowing shoreline banks, canals and bulkheads into the low-lying areas of both communities. In all, more than 1,600 housing units were flooded, and 24 percent of the homes in East Rockaway and 83 percent of those in Bay Park sustained damage. The Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant was rendered inoperable when its electrical system flooded, and sewage backed up in some homes and businesses.
    The Village of East Rockaway and Bay Park were awarded a combined total of $6.6 million by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program. Bay Park was awarded $3.65 million, and East Rockaway, $3 million.

NY Rising

    The NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program was created to assist communities severely damaged by Tropical Storms Irene and Lee and Hurricane Sandy.

Cuomo weighs in
    Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said that homeowners across Long Island would be eligible to be reimbursed by the state for the cost of elevating their homes if they live in the 100-year flood plain, or if the Federal Emergency Management Agency has certified a home as a repeated loss. Noting that some 6,500 Long Island homes lie within the flood plain, the governor said that residents in this special zone should consider raising their houses, because Sandy will likely not be the last major storm to hit the area. He said that the program includes residents whose homes were less than 50 percent damaged by Sandy, and were therefore not required by FEMA to raise or demolish them in order to receive aid. Residents should call (855) NYS-Sandy to find out if they are eligible for reimbursement.

 

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