of clothes on. “We went to Dave’s
brother’s house” She said. “They
got the boiler working and they have
2 generators. HOT SHOWERS FOR
YOU TONITE!! I was never so excited
to hear those words in my entire
life. After dinner, we ventured out to
Jeffrey’s.
Jeffrey’s house was filled with
cousins, brothers and friends.
Despite the exhaustion and stress,
the mood was light and it was really
nice to be around people and feel
somewhat normal. Jeff and Elena
had a generator for the boiler, hot
water and to run the fridge. They had
opened their house to anyone who
was in need of a shower. We enjoyed
all the commotion of people and pets
in a warm, dry house.
A day later, Dave was able to get
the parts to fix his boiler. He had just
installed a new oil tank a few years
back, and they had just received a
delivery of oil right before the storm.
The relatively new full tank had stayed
put during the storm surge; it hadn’t
broken free of the house, as many
others had. This meant that we would
have heat and hot water soon!
Five
months
after
Sandy,
dumpsters and pods still dot the
street. Some houses are showing
signs of being gutted, Many houses
have yet to be touched. Others are
as good as new, sporting shiny new
kitchens and floors. The aftermath of
Sandy has reached much further than
anyone could have expected. There
has been so much talk about Federal
and State dollars being poured into
areas affected by the floods. Much
of that money is earmarked for
infrastructure and public works.
Homeowners who paid into the
National Flood Insurance program,
insuring their homes at a maximum
of $250,000, are only receiving a
fraction of that amount. Most are
taking money out of their own pockets
and investments to finish the repairs.
What we all originally dismissed as
a rumor is actually a very scary fact:
insurance companies are sending
out letters to people, stating that
they either have to raze their homes,
demolish them and rebuild, or be
faced with a $9,500 annual flood
insurance premium.
Most waited over three months
to get their insurance claims paid.
Others are still waiting. The new
city codes and mandates from the
Federal Government are putting a
heavy burden on those still rebuilding
after the event. To be clear, these
are people who paid into insurance
policies for years, not grants or
assistance for those who held no
flood insurance.
Here at ground zero, months later,
we are still feeling the effects of
Sandy, and our frustration continues.
There are still people without power,
without heat or hot water, and without
homes.
The conclusion to this story will
appear in the next issue of Discover
Smith Mountain Lake.
took in water that went above their
electrical outlets, with some taking
in close to 5 feet or better. For
most of us, water heaters, boilers,
electrical, were all useless. Even if
LIPA managed to restore our power, it
would be of little use. Then the news
came: “LIPA is going to conduct door-
to-door electrical inspections BEFORE
they are going to turn the power back
on to your homes”.
It was a crushing blow. These
people can’t work on the power lines
fast enough and NOW they are going
to do inspections of each home? This
will take months. Not weeks, not days.
Months. Stickers began to appear,
adorning each multi dwelling unit
with one of three colors. Green - No
damage, ok to turn on power. Yellow
- some damage, repairs are needed
before power will be turned back
on. Red - damaged beyond repair,
complete rework is needed. The large
number of apartment buildings and
houses here made completing these
inspections a huge task.
As it turned out, LIPA didn’t
complete their inspections, due to
staffing shortages and the volume of
complaints from residents. Instead,
each night as we left Long Beach,
power trucks from all over the country
would travel south on Austin Blvd to
Long Beach, along with police escorts
and fire trucks. The strategy was to
turn the power on, and wait to see
if there was a fire. In that case, the
fire department would be on site
and ready to extinguish it. The mere
thought of all this was disturbing.
Outsiders were making their
way into Long Beach, many just
to take pictures of the misery and
devastation. Others picked through
the debris for metal and other things
that they might salvage and sell. One
rumor said that people were coming
by, looting through people’s flooded
belongings, and using them to pad
their claims against their insurance
companies. These were dark, dark
days.
Any disaster that leaves people
picking up pieces of their lives
inevitably lures in the rip off artists
and the sharks. As we were cleaning
out one of the houses, a man walked
in. “Do you need any help?” he asked.
“Yes, I said, here’s a mask and
gloves!”
“No, he replied, I work for a
construction company and I am
generating leads.”
“Plumbers” were circulating the
area, giving estimates on boiler
equipment at $9,000 per house.
This was 30% higher than what you
could reasonably expect to pay for
a heating system. The electricians
who were coming by were even more
outrageous. I felt as though these
people were preying on the misery
of others. Many houses didn’t have
boilers for a few months, until the
demand waned. I was able to get
someone to come by and give us an
estimate.
“You should get a Baxi unit,” the
plumber said. “It’s a unit that hangs
on the wall, four feet above the floor,
plugs into a regular outlet and gives
you heat and hot water.”
At four feet above the floor, I was
sold. If we ever got flooded again, it
would be less likely to get damaged,
as it was not on the floor, and we
could plug the unit into a generator.
Dealing with Sandy changed the way
we looked at a lot of things. We got a
Baxi unit.
The early morning silence was
broken by the sound of a generator
starting. “Ahhh, coffee soon,” I said to
myself. Making my way downstairs, I
asked “What’s on for today?’”
“I have to go to Freeport to siphon
out a boat.”
“A boat? How many gallons?
Whose boat?”
“My brother’s friend,” Dave
replied, “has a boat with a FULL tank.
250 gallons! The boat got wrecked
and he told me and my brothers to
take the gas.”
This was a great relief; we would
be good for gas for the generator and
maybe one or two cars for a couple of
days. The day before the storm, there
were six working vehicles among us.
Now, after the storm, we considered
ourselves VERY lucky that we still had
three.
Each morning, we would plan for
the day. After days without power,
there was very little gasoline. Lines at
the few open stations were very long.
Many people would venture out in
the wee hours to wait for the delivery
truck to arrive. Dave had methodically
siphoned gas out of every flooded car
he could find. The wrecked boat was
a big bonus.
When we returned that night, Mira
had her hair down and a change
Sandy Continued...
Discover Smith Mountain Lake
Summer 2013
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