In Riverhead, flooded homeowners still seek relief

Homeowners on Horton Avenue in Riverhead cheered and some danced on their lawns last weekend when news came that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had declared Suffolk County a disaster area.

There was one problem, however. FEMA made the declaration for damage done by the first major storm in March. More than a dozen homes on Horton Avenue were damaged by the second storm. But since that March 30 storm didn't wreak enough havoc for the state to be able to make a request for assistance to individuals, homeowners were devastated.

"We danced and then we felt like crying," said Linda Hobson, a social worker by trade who now puts her expertise to use helping neighbors.

Wednesday, more than three weeks after the March 30 storm, 13 homes that suffered the most damage were still flooded. Only this time, the water level in basements and in four homes' surrounding yards seems to rise and fall with the tide, neighbors said.

Hobson carries a notebook that details what homeowners - many of whom are related to each other - now face:

Only five of the 15 homes that suffered damage have flood insurance. The notebook contains 10 disclaimer letters from homeowner insurance companies that would not cover damage.

Only one house has a mortgage. The rest were paid off by owners - many of whom bought property half a century ago. Many property owners are retired and on fixed incomes.

And as of Wednesday, families in most of the houses remained homeless. "We had three move into hotels, but that money ran out," said Hobson. "Everybody else is living with friends and relatives."

Still, many homeowners are in the neighborhood frequently, if not, like Hobson, every day.

Hobson's front yard has a table of clothing and food donations. Neighbors stop by for whatever they need. And that includes the donated televisions, air conditioners, sofas and other furniture she keeps locked up in back.

During the height of the flood, Hobson had 10 feet of water in her house. Wednesday, the place smelled, almost pleasantly, of disinfectant. "I use Tilex and bleach to kill some mold," she said. But when Hobson opened the basement door, the atmosphere changed. Hobson, who for 20 years has lived in the house built by her mother and uncle, has stopped trying to pump out the basement, which still has 4 to 5 feet of water, depending on the tides, she said.

Hobson isn't certain that her neighbors can afford to take out the low-interest small-business loans that soon will be offered to neighborhood residents by the federal government. And she, along with other neighbors I talked to yesterday, worry that new wallboard or refinished floors won't last long. "It's like nature wants this to be wetland again," she said.

For almost two decades, through the early 1980s, the Town of Riverhead, recognizing the neighborhood's problem, moved more than 20 Horton Avenue homes to higher ground.

Perhaps it's time to find a way to move 13 more.