Suffolk residents affected by summer storms frustrated by FEMA denial of individual aid request

Residents struggling with damage wrought by the torrential rainstorms of August have reacted with dismay after the Federal Emergency Management Agency rejected the state's request for funds for individuals. 

The state plans to appeal the denial, and in the meantime, homeowners can apply for state grants to make emergency repairs. 

Still, the news from FEMA, which was conveyed to Gov. Kathy Hochul last Thursday, was a blow to those who had hoped for federal assistance. 

“I’m devastated by the denial,” said Jennifer Steinberg, whose house on Mill Creek in Head of the Harbor was damaged in the Aug. 18-19 storm, which dropped as much as 10 inches of rain on parts of the North Shore of Suffolk County. The sea wall in front of her house also was destroyed by the floodwaters; rebuilding it is a $150,000 expense, which her homeowners insurance and flood insurance don’t cover. “I was banking on at least a low-interest loan from FEMA,” she said.

The denial also was met with frustration among public officials, who have said the total cost of the damage in Brookhaven, Huntington and Smithtown could exceed $100 million. 

People 'were inundated'

The rainstorm caused Stony Brook’s Mill Pond dam to collapse, which sent a deluge of pond water rushing toward Long Island Sound. Roads were washed out and houses downstream from the dam sustained considerable damage, including one house, on the corner of Main Street and Harbor Road in Stony Brook, which has been condemned.

About 50 houses were damaged in the storm and flooding, according to Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico.

Panico said Monday he had not heard FEMA's rationale for denying the request. But he said the reasoning seemed “flawed.” 

“These are people who were inundated with water,” he said. “This was a natural disaster, something nobody could have predicted, and we should help them."

FEMA previously approved a declaration for public assistance funds for Suffolk County. Those funds are earmarked for roads and other damaged public infrastructure. 

FEMA wrote in its letter to Hochul that "the impact to individuals and households in Suffolk County is not of the severity and magnitude to warrant the designation of Individual Assistance."

Hochul has said she will appeal.

Seeking help from state program

Hundreds of homeowners applied for help instead from the state’s Resilient and Ready Home Repair program, which offers up to $50,000 for "emergency housing repairs necessary to make the home safe, sanitary and habitable.” Only primary residences are eligible, and there are income limits.

James Britz, COO of the Long Island Housing Partnership, the nonprofit that administers the program, said the state will add to the $5 million originally committed to assist Long Islanders with repairs if necessary. 

The state has received 638 applications from Long Islanders for the program.

“Of those, 80 applications have been fully or conditionally approved to date,” Gordon Tepper, Long Island press secretary for Hochul, wrote in an email to Newsday. “A large number of applicants are still gathering documents or working with contractors to get repair estimates.”

Steinberg applied for these state funds and was told her application was approved — then learned the program won’t cover a sea wall.

“I can’t get the job started” without some assistance, and meanwhile “the house is at great risk” from the high tides, she said. “With each tide it takes more and more land. It needs to be addressed and I don’t have a solution for it.”

Steinberg has now applied for a low-interest loan from the state.

Panico noted many people who sustained damage weren’t in coastal areas and didn’t carry flood insurance — and were now left with unaffordable repairs.

"Especially in Rocky Point, it's a working-class community, middle-class community. These are the people who otherwise are going to have to try to do this themselves, absorb it, maybe living with toxic mold," Panico said.

Ron Borgese, whose house near the collapsed dam was severely damaged, said his insurance company denied his claim. He said no one has helped him: “Not one government agency, not one insurance company I paid to cover me in an event like this.”

A FEMA spokesperson wrote in an email to Newsday that "if the state disagrees with a FEMA Public Assistance decision, it can file an appeal presenting clear reasons and supporting evidence" and that "appeals are reviewed and granted on a case-by-case basis."

Panico said he hoped FEMA would grant the appeal.

“That's the purpose of government, is to help people when they're down," he said.