Rip-out rip-off?

Particularly galling for O’Reilly is that $14,000 she spent immediately after the storm. Like many Baldwin residents, she attended a post-hurricane meeting at the middle school, at which FEMA representatives addressed sewage backup and promised funds. She said she felt hopeful reading about County Executive Ed Mangano’s pledge to help residents affected by the Bay Park disaster, but said that her quest to get actual money from the county has so far been fruitless.

“It was a great photo op for Mangano,” she said, but then described how what initially appeared to be a guarantee of money has since devolved into another wearying squabble.

“They give you from one person to another,” she said. “They wanted two sets of papers, everything but my DNA, and I filled those out and then I waited.”
O’Reilly detailed how Nassau County directed her to the county attorney, who passed her off to a private law firm. She said she was deposed by the firm, and was told her $14,000 would be refunded.

“Everything goes on for months,” she said, recounting how, following her deposition and the promise of payment, she was sent back to her original starting point: Nassau County. “I spoke to the county attorney again and they said, ‘We’re not doing anything with that,’” O’Reilly said. “They told me I now have 90 days to sue the county if I want any money, but the lawyers I’ve been working with won’t take my case due to conflicts.”

Fatigue sets in
The financial forensics of the O’Reilly case are as convoluted as the tangle of furniture in the living room and the sheaf of documents on the plastic table. What is real, however, is that fact that the O’Reillys — like many others along the Eastern Seaboard — are running out of energy for the fight.

The insurance companies have already retired the advertisements trumpeting their rapid responses to Hurricane Sandy. The Red Cross has closed up shop and is now doing worthy work in the Philippines. But for the O’Reillys and thousands of others, Hurricane Sandy is still an all-day, every-day affair.