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Six years after Hurricane Sandy, there are still about 2,000 households mired in the rebuilding process.
Multiply that number by the tens of thousands of homes across the Southeast following Hurricanes Florence and Michael, and the work ahead looks daunting, to say the least.
This is mostly because the United States lacks a unified, permanent national disaster recovery system. Instead, federal agencies work with the affected states, each of which has its own standards and protocols. Other variables include whether homeowners have flood insurance, the solvency and skills of homeowners and contractors and, quite simply, luck and timing.
Here is a breakdown of how disaster recovery currently works when it affects your home, as well as issues to look out for.
Water damage is expensive
Even though flooding is the most common natural disaster in the United States, there are no legal requirements for homeowners to have flood insurance; standard insurance doesn’t cover flooding. That said, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) calculates that one inch of water in a home can cause $25,000 worth of damage. The federal government does not automatically provide funds for homeowners to rebuild.
After a natural disaster, act fast
Register immediately with FEMA. Representatives sometimes go door to door in affected neighborhoods; usually there will be emergency disaster center or mobile office. If you have flood insurance, file a claim. Make sure to photograph the damage of your home in detail. It is best to have before and after shots.
[Read this article about the thousands of families who are still rebuilding six years after Hurricane Sandy on Long Island’s South Shore]
When federal money is available
If FEMA makes a major disaster declaration, and the agency says individual assistance will be available, it could provide money for rental and lodging, for instance, and emergency home repairs. The maximum available is $33,000 per household.
After a presidential disaster declaration, the U.S. Small Business Administration provides low-interest loans for home repair and property damage of up to $240,000, primarily to creditworthy households.
Community Development Block Grant- Disaster Recovery awards are administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to state disaster recovery agencies after a presidential disaster declaration and special Congressional approval. These grants can take years to reach homeowners because of the multiple steps involved.
There is not enough help for homeowners after a storm. Why?
Consumer Protection Laws Are Weak
When contractor disputes and fraud issues became an issue in Long Island, it was clear that New York laws were not strong enough, said Melissa Luckman, a law professor and director of Touro Law Center’s Disaster Relief Clinic.
A good model, she said, is New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act, which has given the state attorney general more authority to go after fraudulent contractors.
We Need More Trained Caseworkers
About 11,000 homeowners enrolled in the NY Rising program. In 2015, New York’s recovery agency said there were about 131 caseworkers in the state, each one handling between 50 and 200 cases, according to Madhu Beriwal, the chief executive of a disaster management firm that provided staffing, among other vendors, for a period after Sandy. Currently 44 caseworkers oversee close to 2,000 households in New York state.
And Lawyers
Although there were lawyers who volunteered at FEMA’s disaster recovery center right after Sandy, the demand for legal services continued several years after, said William Friedman, a lawyer and former director for the New York Legal Assistance Group.
At first, questions were mostly about applying for aid. But years later, homeowners needed legal representation to appeal bungled flood insurance claims, he said.
Also: Local Governments Need to Hire
When the rebuilding process starts, local governments need to expand, as more employees are needed to expedite permits for contractors and to field phone calls at consumer affairs offices. The paperwork alone creates a massive backlog at local buildings departments.
Laws Are Slowly Changing
Earlier this month, the Disaster Recovery Reform Act was passed by Congress and signed into law, which allows state agencies to use FEMA funds for mitigation efforts before a disaster occurs.
The law will also enforce and update building codes, streamline the funding application process and stipulate that loans will not count against other monetary benefits.