This isn’t really diabetes related. But it’s about a huge part of my life – my twin sister. Many of you may know that her house in Staten Island, NY was ruined by Hurricane Sandy back in October of last year. Her and my brother in law have been through absolute hell since then, trying to get their house repaired so they can move back. Sadly, that is not feasible and they are trying to work out an alternative plan. I actually wrote this some time ago and forgot about it. It came up while talking with her over this past weekend and I thought I’d put it out there.
Imagine living in a country where you pay a decent amount of money each year toward government provided services.
Imagine paying for insurance every month, year after year, to cover your home and belongings in the event of a disaster.
Imagine living in a flood prone area and paying extra in insurance to protect your home and belongings in the event of a flood.
Now imagine surviving a major flood resulting from a super storm with a house, the one that is covered by both flood and home insurance and state and city taxes, that is almost completely destroyed. You would think your house could be rebuilt with the coverage you’ve been paying for, right?
Think again. In the US, NYC and NJ no less, there are thousands of families who have homes and businesses ruined from Hurricane Sandy. It has been just about 8 months since the storm and not one thing in terms of recovery has changed. The red tape that President Obama claimed would not play a role in the recovery from Sandy, is all over the place. Insurance companies are not paying for total damages, sometimes nothing at all. Banks are withholding insurance checks from clients. Mortgage companies are penalizing homeowners for not being able to pay mortgages on a home that is unlivable. And even padlocking those homes illegally. It is a disgrace that this is how our state, city and government officials are allowing the recovery efforts to go. I am ashamed to live in a city, state and country where this kind of thing happens and its citizens are allowed to suffer like this.
The Girl with the Portable Pancreas 
Grrrr. I hear you! So sorry for your family.
Sorry for all the issues because of Hurricane Sandy. Up here in Westchester, we just got lucky! All the best of luck to your sister. If you need a helping hand, please let me know.
I am so sorry to hear this Stacey. I was listening to some of the statistics for both Staten Island and the Far Rockaways the other night. Both horrifying and shocking. I am praying for your family and sending you much love.
This is horrible. I’m so sorry to hear how untrustworthy even her insurance plan has turned out to be! I had a flood in my condo two months ago, a very minor flood but it requires the flooring to be redone. The insurance guy argued with me at every turn about whether floors were damaged by water before my neighbor’s pipe broke. It wasn’t until I showed him a video of the water everywhere that he acknowledge the truth. They’ll do anything to get out paying what they’re responsible for. It’s horrendous. xoxoox
I am truly sorry for the heartache and loss your sister is going through. I agree it is a sad state of affairs. But on a positive note: both of my teenage daughters are in Queens with their Youth group helping with Sandy clean up. And the youth are having a block party Thursday night in Far Rockaway. I hope my daughters can help and learn from seeing the damage personally.
Thanks for voicing this girlie. It’s still hard to believe that people are still struggling when the storm happened some time ago, and I don’t think a lot of people realize this. Thank you for all you’ve done for us too! xoxoxo