Riverhead residents complain about lack of flood aid

Shirley Womack - her washer, dryer, refrigerator and freezer all ruined by basement flooding during a March rainstorm of near-biblical proportions - came to First Baptist Church in Riverhead Saturday hoping for help.

"There should be money from some program to help us," said Womack, 66, a counselor for the disabled who lives on Booker Drive in Riverhead. "We have to go take out a loan that we have to pay back. Here I'm ready to retire, I don't have the money to pay all this back."

Womack was among more than 200 concerned residents who crowded into the church's basement and listened as elected officials and community leaders tried to assure them that relief is on the way. More than a month later, many continue to cope with dirty water and mold from rainstorms in mid- and late March.

"We are being judged on our response," Legis. Edward Romaine (R-Center Moriches) told them. "We need to do more than just low-interest loans. It isn't going to cut it."

The meeting, which lasted about 90 minutes, was organized by the church and the Long Island Organizing Network, a Suffolk County coalition of faith-based community and labor leaders.

More than 10 officials - including Riverhead Town Supervisor Sean Walter, Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton), Assemb. Fred Thiele Jr. (I-Sag Harbor), state Sen. Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson), and representatives from Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer's and Kirsten Gillibrand's offices - signed a letter to be delivered to Gov. David A. Paterson. The letter urged him to take steps necessary to get disaster relief from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

On April 30, Paterson sent a letter to President Barack Obama requesting an extension of the date for disaster relief. The state also has requested that the March storms be considered a single weather-related incident. Last week, Bishop asked FEMA to expedite approval of that request.

If that is granted, FEMA would send aid to pay for debris removal, repairs to public facilities and response costs, according to Dennis Michalski, assistant director of the New York State Emergency Management Office.

"This is a storm that had an impact all over Long Island," Thiele said. "I think it's imperative for the governor and legislature to not look at this as one event but both storms together."

Romaine noted that Ridge and Shelter Island also had severe flooding in some areas.

Walter spoke of efforts made by the Town of Riverhead. "When we realized federal aid was not coming, we reached out to businesses," he said

On Horton Avenue Saturday, four houses remained separated from the street by a moat of water. Close by, a pool of stagnant water encroached on a playground.

Linda Hobson, 44, a social worker who lives on Horton Avenue, still has 4 feet of water in her basement. At the church meeting, she recalled how she had to be taken by boat into her home in March to collect any valuables that had not been destroyed.

"This is not just a Horton Avenue problem," she said. "It's a Suffolk County problem."