Hurricane Sandy-impacted homeowners in Long Beach know the federal assistance programs available to them well enough and they are encouraged to learn more about state programs, a Federal Emergency Management Agency official told Patch hours before FEMA, state and city representatives hold another in a series of open community forums at City Hall on Wednesday.
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“We’re at a point now where people really do understand the guts of the programs and what’s available to them and what’s not available,” Mike Parker, a FEMA branch director on Long Island said of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) Program and other federal programs.
“They may not be satisfied with them but they pretty much know our programs inside and out,” he continued.
Whereas at previous forums home and business owners who packed the sixth-floor chambers at City Hall asked general questions about the various assistance programs, Wednesday’s meeting at 6 p.m. is designed to emphasize state programs, such as NY Sandy Helps- NY Rising Recovery Program, and be more individualized.
About two months ago the state started a pre-application process for the programs, and in the weeks following the May 1 meeting the state has followed up with a more protracted application process, Parker said.
“They are really designed to fill the gaps where FEMA or the National Flood Insurance Program or the Small Business Administration Program may have left you unfulfilled and that the NY Sandy Help and the state programs are really designed to fill those gaps,” Parker said.
Wednesday’s forum will feature Scott Fuller, a FEMA expert who continues to work with home and business owners in Long Beach, and will also have Parker’s individual assistants and National Flood Insurance experts who will speak one-on-one with people.
“My intent is take questions not as a group but to take questions face to face with those individuals and those subject-matter experts,” Parker said. “We could actually get into someone’s case file, if we need to, and take a look at specifics. Instead of giving broad general answers, we can give very specific personal answers.”
Parker said what makes Long Beach unique from other storm-battered areas where FEMA has operated is the close proximity of homes, especially in the West End, which makes it difficult to perform any extensive work to mitigate the hurricane-damaged structures.
“That’s going to make it extremely difficult for homeowners to mitigate their losses, and to either elevate their homes or bring their homes into compliance,” Parker said. “I see that as probably the biggest challenge in the City of Long Beach.”
Parker said what FEMA has found from Hurricane Irene, which hit the northeast in August 2011, is that of the 700 structures throughout the state that were identified for acquisition or elevation, acquisitions only began in November 2012; elevations started in April 2013.
“So I think just based on the desire for the folks in Long Beach to get on with elevating their homes and getting things repaired, the Hazard Mitigation Program really doesn’t meet their needs, nor is it really designed for the homeowner.” Parker said in an effort to provide some perspective on the federal program. “It’s more designed for municipalities and private non-profit programs.”
FEMA’s branch office in Woodbury has a mix of about 200 FEMA and state representatives who are expected to work on grant programs for at least the next three months. “So we’re going to be here for quite awhile,” Parker said.
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