Far Rockaway Still Endures Hurricane Sandy Harm 10 Years Later

QUEENS – In Far Rockaway, Donna Simbo still remembers Hurricane Sandy as the first domino that tumbled and catalyzed the rest of the problems that she has faced in the last ten years.

Simbo’s home was heavily damaged after Hurricane Sandy battered New York City in 2012 and she has been jumping through bureaucratic hoops to repair her residence. With nowhere else to move, Simbo relives the traumatic experience during every hurricane season in Far Rockaway.

“Every time rain falls, it floods,” Simbo told Patch. “Why are homeowners still suffering?”

Simbo is part of the many Hurricane Sandy survivors with damaged homes calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to tax the rich to fund a Green New Deal. They are also calling to make bigger public investments to help prevent future climate disasters.

These pleas come on the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, which ravaged Queens and raised serious questions about the state of its infrastructure. In Far Rockaway, water coming from the bay and the ocean led to immense flooding and destruction.

After Hurricane Sandy, Simbo stayed in her home although the foundation was split apart because she had nowhere else to live.

Despite the efforts of the city’s Build it Back program, which repaired her home, water continues to leak through the home’s ceiling when she turns on the water.

Mold developed in the residence, and now Simbo suffers from common variable immunodeficiency, making her use a breathing machine.

On Saturday, Far Rockaway community leaders and climate activists from New York Communities for Change congregated at 66-20 Almeda Avenue for a vigil to mark ten years since Hurricane Sandy.