Co-Op Owners May Not Receive Help from FEMA After Hurricane Sandy

For co-op residents whose homes were damaged in Hurricane Sandy, financial assistance from FEMA may not be forthcoming.  

Cooperative housing, a system that exists all over the nation but flourishes in New York City, is a housing agreement wherein apartment dwellers, rather than legally own or rent their units, instead purchase a share of the entire building. The legal distinction may not appear to mean much to the average person, but after Hurricane Sandy, the difference has cost many co-op apartment dwellers Federal Emergency Management Agency aid, even though many of the buildings and residencies were damaged extensively by the storm.[1]

Under current law, co-op owners cannot apply for aid to their individual units or common areas because that is seen as the responsibility of the entire building, which is regarded as a business, even though no actual profits are sought or even received. Although issue was addressed before after Hurricane Wilma in Florida, it has never been resolved. However, because no other region in the nation that has such a high percentage of co-ops has ever been hit by a storm the size of Hurricane Sandy, the problem will not be as easy to ignore. 

Approximately 20 percent of the residencies hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy were co-ops. Even though the common image of co-op dwellers is that of well-to-do, moneyed American aristocracy, many co-op residents are senior citizens and retirees for whom additional financial obligations would be devastating. 

FEMA can, however, provide aid for damaged furniture and possessions, in much the same way that renter’s insurance does.  However, areas such as the roof or boilers, for example, are considered “common areas,” to be addressed by the board and the tenants. 

Appeals have been made by local representatives for the purpose of changing legislation, so that co-ops might qualify for a portion of the repair funds. However, the real difficulty lies in finding representatives from other states who will support an allotment for co-ops. Because many senators and congressmen and women come from regions that are often hit by natural disasters such as floods and tornadoes, they might not be amenable to the possibility that FEMA funding could be diverted to a New York co-op.

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[1] Navarro, Mireya: U.S. Rules Bar Aid to Co-ops Hit by Sandy New York Times 5/1/2013 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/02/nyregion/fema-policy-keeps-co-ops-from-disaster-aid.html?ref=nyregion&_r=0&pagewanted=print

Hurricane Sandy Relief Funds Might Not Be Used to Rebuild Homes

Six months after Hurricane Sandy made landfall, property owners are still struggling with the costs of repairs, and it was recently discovered that New York City residents might not be allowed to use federally granted funds to rebuild their homes. 

New Yorkers still have a hurdle to overcome with regard to funding for hurricane repairs and renovations: federal relief money disbursed to private citizens can only be used to build new structures, not restore damaged ones.[1] However, no such restrictions are given to Long Island residents, even though the amount of money being given to the districts is almost the same (New York has been allotted $1.8 billion; Long Island $1.7billion). The funding for structural repair is desperately needed, since many of the severely damaged homes will have to be not only repaired, but elevated as well, in accordance with new flood safety standards.[2]

The lack of consistency with regard to how monies can be used within a single state is causing consternation among not only New York City residents, many of whom are still not able to move back into their homes, but also among state and local officials. Senator Chuck Schumer wrote in a letter to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shawn Donovan that there must be uniformity with regard to relief funding for all residents of New York State. “A homeowner in Rockaway Beach will not be eligible for the same benefit that a homeowner in Long Beach, just 10 miles away, will be able to access."

The New Yorkers without flood insurance who are looking to repair their homes and businesses might have reason for hope, however, since the plans for the allotment of funds are “only preliminary,” according to a spokesperson for the City.

It was announced that residents who were still unable to inhabit their homes would be moved from Federal Emergency Management Agency-funded hotels into temporary apartments. FEMA would pay the rental, as well as administrative, costs for the initiative.

Any funding for rebuilding efforts will certainly come in handy, considering that many residences will have to be elevated in order to comply with the new safety standards. The price of elevating a structure is steep—between $10,000 and $100,000, not including the cost of any other related expenses, such as a new foundation. Nevertheless, certain structures lying within the current advisory flood maps will be required to be elevated. Others outside of the flood area will not necessarily have to be elevated, but homeowners will have to decide whether to bear the costs of elevation or contend with substantially higher insurance rates.

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[1] Hurricane Sandy relief rules restrict New Yorkers from  using cash to rebuild 4/11/2013 http://rt.com/usa/sandy-relief-federal-restrictions-662/

[2] Harris, Elizabeth: Going Up a Few Feet, and Hoping to Avoid a Storm’s Path New York Times 4/15/2013 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/16/nyregion/after-hurricane-sandy-homeowners-elevate-property.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Hurricane Sandy Transitional Housing Program to End

Federal shelter assistance will end May 1st for those who were displaced by Hurricane Sandy. 

It was announced today by Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie that the Transitional Sheltering Assistance program that was instituted by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) after Hurricane Sandy collided with the state will end May 1, 2013. This decision to institute the final extension sought by the State is a result of exhaustive casework that concluded almost all of those who were participating in the program will have secured solutions for long-term housing by that date.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy there has been an intensive outreach program that has involved phone calls, electronic notifications and communications, as well as counseling in person for those who required housing solutions. Of the roughly 5,500 families that were displaced in New Jersey, roughly only 219 residents remain displaced, and both the Governor and FEMA believe that they will be able to find housing for them.

Said Governor Christie, in a statement issued today:

"FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance Program has been invaluable in giving Sandy-displaced families the time they need to find a safe, suitable housing solution that works for them. Now, six months after Sandy’s landfall, we are able to conclude the program with an effort to help the last remaining families solidify a long-term housing solution. I thank FEMA for their work with us to keep this program running as long as was required to secure the best possible housing options displaced families, and bring a successful close to the program.” 

Over the course of the federal assistance programs, 435 hotels participated in the Transitional Sheltering Assistance program with 253,425 room nights being provided with a stay of an average of 31 days. Once the program has concluded the total cost is expected to be just below $34 million.

You can read more about this program through the official statement made by the State of New Jersey.

Julian Omidi on Hurricane Sandy Public Housing Defaults

Julian Omidi is a cofounder of the charity No More Poverty with his brother Dr. Michael Omidi. In this article, Julian Omidi discusses the plight of the elderly and disabled public housing tenants who still have no access to electricity, water or gas, even more than a month after the storm.

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NY Public Housing Still Suffering from Lack of Service

New York City public housing is still suffering from lack of service more than one month after Hurricane Sandy made landfall. The suffering is felt most acutely by residents in the more remote areas of the Rockaways, Red Hook, and Coney Island. New York’s public housing authority is reporting that, while there were mandatory evacuations issued prior to the “Super Storm,” these were not heeded in many of the public housing units, since many of the older and infirm residents felt relatively secure. However, it was not anticipated by these residents that the heat, electricity, water and gas would take so long to be restored. Many disabled residents are trapped at the top of their public housing towers due to power outages that rendered the elevator systems unusable. Some chronically ill residents are rationing their medications because they cannot access or afford to get new supplies. Carbon monoxide poisonings are rampant from tenants that are using their ovens and burners for heat.

FEMA Volunteers Discover Tenants Cannot Contact Offices

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) began sending representatives to public housing complexes to hand out vouchers and check on the residents, many of whom hadn’t been out of their buildings in weeks. Because the requests for federal aid were significantly lower than what was anticipated, FEMA planners were dispatched to find out why. It was because the tenants couldn’t contact the offices. Extra food stamps that were issued to people whose food was spoiled by the storm and lack of refrigeration were never redeemed, likely because the people who received them couldn’t reach grocery stores. The city of New York didn’t even have a tally of how many public housing residents were trapped in their apartments. Moreover, there wasn’t a number of how many of those residents were in direct peril from health complications or lack of food and water. Even as mayor Bloomberg gave press conferences and issued statements that declared that everyone, or almost everyone, in New York City Public Housing would have power and services restored, it became apparent how many people were still in dire straits. Volunteers reported finding diabetic tenants without insulin and wheelchair-bound people trapped at the top of stairwells.

Although the immediate aid response after the hurricane hit was generally believed to be outstanding, many of the people in these housing complexes are still waiting for answers as to why, when much of the city’s power has been restored, they are still without heat and reliable electricity.

Private Charities and Organizations More Successful than Public Counterparts

Fortunately for many of the public housing residents, private charities and organizations seemed to be able to intervene more effectively than their public counterparts. Medical teams organized and went looking for trapped residents and ice and batteries were distributed to people with no power. Public officials began taking their cues from the efforts of the volunteers, and started to organize hospitals and assistance stations based upon the logs and reports of the private volunteers.

With the help of private charities, federal and city officials are beginning make the exhaustive search through the public housing towers and giving supplies and assistance to those who are still trapped inside. Now that city officials have a slightly better grasp of the enormity of the situation, it seems hopeful that everyone who is still suffering from the effects of the storm will receive aid.

Hurricane Sandy Accelerates Temporary Housing Plans

Federal Officials Accelerate Plan to Create Disaster Housing Structures

Because the Hurricane Sandy disaster highlighted the nation’s lack of a contingency plan in the wake of a natural disaster, both federal and local east coast officials accelerated a plan to create disaster housing structures, which are to be temporary units that can be stacked and stored in warehouse spaces and then assembled quickly when needed. These units will be fabricated from shipping and storage containers. Instead of disbursing people whose homes were destroyed into temporary shelters or hotel rooms, the city would quickly assemble temporary neighborhoods.

While the temporary housing units will not be available for use by the victims of Hurricane Sandy, it is anticipated that a prototype will be ready for construction sometime next year. The shipping containers are approximately 40 x 12 x 9 feet, and can accommodate one bedroom and bath, a kitchen and living room. These units can be combined for large families, and even stacked in order to create entire apartment blocks, as well as arranged in such a way as to suggest a proper neighborhood.

Emergency Shelters

New York’s current Hurricane Sandy relief efforts involved distributing newly homeless residents to emergency shelters in high schools and colleges, moving them to dormitory style armory shelters when the schools reopened, and then finally installing them in hotel rooms around the city. Shelters that were originally imagined for victims of substance abuse were also used, but these were not equipped for families with infants. The new plan will prevent the current permanent homeless shelters, already stretched beyond capacity, to continue to function without added strain, and to keep unoccupied apartments set aside for those who need permanent housing.
The Commissioner for New York’s Department of Design and Construction says that these storage units are strong, weather resistant and fairly cheap. The structures will be distributed to the hardest hit areas of a natural disaster, remain while the homes are being rebuilt and then dismantled and stored again after the residents have been reestablished in permanent residencies. Each unit is estimated to cost between $50,000 and $80,000, and will be paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and New York City. The original idea for these homes came from a New York-sponsored design contest, and the temporary modular housing concept has been in development for five years.

Unlike the old FEMA trailers which had a very limited lifespan, the shipping container housing units are thought to be durable enough to be reused again and again; the shipping containers themselves can be reused up to 20 times and will last as long as 30 years.

Hurricane Sandy Insurance Claims in Billions

Hurricane Sandy Property Damage in the Billions

The devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy are only just beginning to be felt. As with Hurricane Katrina, the dollar amount for all of the property damage is in the billions, and even though a home or property owner might have flood damage insurance through FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), there simply isn’t enough money to reimburse all of the claims. And what about all of the home and property owners who didn’t have flood insurance?

FEMA May Have to Increase Federal Deficit in Order to Pay All Claims

In 2005, the Gulf Coast was ravaged, leaving thousands of homes leveled and tens of thousands of people homeless. The FEMA National Flood Insurance Program that insured a vast number of property owners takes in approximately $3.5 billion in premiums yearly, and when hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma struck, more than $17 billion in damages were filed. In fact, flood insurance claims have surpassed insurance premiums for four out of the last five years, leaving the federal organization without the money for adequate payout. Hurricane Sandy is believed to have flooded or destroyed more than 100,000 homes. FEMA will very likely have to increase the federal deficit in order to pay out all of the claims and provide sufficient assistance. The vast majority of the properties with flood insurance coverage are covered by the federal-backed National Flood Insurance Program because private insurers either do not offer flood insurance or the premiums are prohibitively expensive in regions even marginally susceptible to flooding.

Flood Insurance Policies

How does the homeowner know if the damage is covered? There are numerous provisions in homeowner insurance policies, and determining whether or not a particular policy applies to a specific sort of damage can be quite confusing. The category of “flooding” might not even apply to many of the claimants. Properties that were damaged by winds or rain are not covered by flood insurance, nor are properties damaged by fallen trees due to ground oversaturation. However, most homeowners’ insurance will cover the damage done to a home from a fallen tree, unless it can be proven that the tree fell due to homeowner neglect; even if the tree was owned by someone other than the property owner who makes the claim. “Flooding” is defined as being an overflow from either tidal or inland waters, which then seep into the property from below, as opposed to leaking in from above. Standard-issue flood insurance policies cover the structure, electrical systems, plumbing systems, large appliances (refrigerators, ovens and water heaters) and carpeting. Supplementary insurance can be purchased for furnishings, clothing and electronics. Try not to keep items of value in basements; many flood insurance policies do not cover (or have limited coverage) items stored below ground.

Unfortunately, not every homeowner had flood insurance, since it isn’t required unless the homeowner has a federally-backed mortgage. Those without flood insurance can contact FEMA and apply for aid. However, assistance, if granted, is only a fraction of what an insurance policy would pay out.

Philanthropist Julian Omidi is cofounder of the charities No More Poverty and Animal Support with his brother Dr. Michael Omidi. In this article, Julian Omidi discusses insurance claims after Hurricane Sandy.