Reflecting on Sandy, five years later

Mention Hurricane Sandy, which slammed into the South Shore five years ago, and residents describe memories of wading through flooded kitchens, enduring weeks without electricity, and waging battles over insurance coverage. And in some cases, the battles haven’t ended.

Gary Gilbert, 65, who has lived in his Bellmore house since 1983, said he had never experienced a storm like Sandy. When it hit, he and his wife stayed in the home, moving up to the second floor as the first filled with water.

“You become very cognizant of the power of nature,” Gilbert said. “And the sudden immediacy, that you’re being destroyed and you can’t do anything about it. It makes you realize how small and insignificant you are.”

The morning that the storm hit, Cammann’s Pond, in Merrick, began to overflow with rainwater, and when he noticed this, Howard Seidman, 51, who lives south of Merrick Road, drove his family’s cars to a cousin’s house in North Merrick, where he rode out the storm.

“I knew exactly what was going to happen,” Seidman said. Not only did the pond flood his neighborhood, but the three surrounding canals overflowed as well.

Seidman and his family were able to stay in their house after Sandy, but it sustained extensive water damage. Within a year, Seidman managed to finish most of the repairs with the help of his insurance company, Allstate. He received reimbursement checks that covered the reconstruction of every room except his bathroom.

“[My contractor] said there was no physical damage,” he recalled, adding that the bathroom was, however, built above a crawlspace, which filled to the brim with water during the storm. “I knew it would rot,” he said. He filed a supplemental claim to fix the bathroom, but it was denied by Allstate.

Since he was 18 and bought his first car, Seidman said, he had trusted the insurance company. “It was bewildering to me that they would fix my kitchen and not my bathroom,” he said, explaining that the two rooms are adjacent to each other. He learned that if he wanted to fight for a reimbursement on his bathroom, he would have to go through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

By chance, Seidman was solicited by a Washington law firm whose attorneys promised to fight FEMA for funds for those recovering from Sandy. He worked with the firm for nearly three years, sending photos of his damaged bathroom and documentation of his other insurance reimbursements. Seidman won his suit, and was awarded two checks to cover the damage. “After five years, I was finally awarded enough to fix my bathroom,” he said.

Gilbert’s home sustained $100,000 in damage. The first floor was destroyed, along with his heating and electrical systems. When it came to reconstruction, he said, “There were so many nuances to everything that you had to understand.”

Although it was a long and arduous experience, Gilbert said, he managed to repair his home without any problems from his insurance company or FEMA. “It made me a lot older faster,” he said. “I just hope it never happens again.”