Families denied by FEMA wait for aid a year after the flood
So, they wait.
With rotting floors and leaking roofs, they wait.
With decaying walls and a bottle of bleach to fight off the mold, they wait.
A double rainbow stretched over the
Blue tarps stretched over the trailer's front and back sides, cloaking a problem that was exacerbated, he said, by last year's heavy rains.
The trailer's siding was constructed of "pressed cardboard," Tryskuc said, as he broke off a chunk of rotten particle board that feebly clung to the front of his home.
The siding disintegrated under the pressure of last October's historically heavy rains. The damage wasn't, however, caused by flood waters.
So,
And he wasn't alone. Tryskuc's home is one of more than 100 still damaged in
"
Many of them still need help to repair damages a year after the flood.
The tarps on Tryskuc's home were installed by parishioners of
Local charitable agencies have a list of families they want to help, but those groups say they, too, struggle with a lack of volunteers and manpower needed to assist all of the people still waiting for relief.
The flat roof over McCray's house on
"I've been here about five years in this house," she said. "It never rained in this house up until then."
It continues to leak today, trickling and sometimes pouring through the blackened ceiling of a bedroom in her house when it rains outside. Mold became a problem, but McCray said she was given cleaning materials to fight it.
Buckets and pans lined a wall inside the bedroom, holding rainwater from the afternoon showers that drenched
Tarps on the flat roof haven't stopped the problem.
Moisture-absorbing sheets were draped over the bed and a nightstand table.
"If you come close, you can see this water that's dripping," she said, pointing to an overhead droplet temporarily unspoiled by gravity. Thursday's rain had stopped at least an hour before, but the ceiling still leaked.
In the weekend washout last October, McCray said the water outside her home was up to her shins. The rainfall in
"I couldn't even get out of my house," said McCray, who drives a school bus for
"
Lucas said several factors come into play when deciding
Applicants also have to prove the damaged home was their primary residence before the disaster and that the damages occurred during the disaster.
Some applicants are required to obtain flood insurance with awarded funds. Those who were helped in the past, but didn't follow through or keep up with flood insurance coverage weren't eligible for repair funds, according to Lucas.
Other reasons for denials range from missing insurance or ownership information to missing or incomplete information.
McCray couldn't remember what reason she was given with her denial, only that she was turned down for assistance.
The ceiling in her living room now also shows black spots like the ones in the bedroom, but it hasn't started leaking there yet, she said. Between car payments, insurance and other household bills, McCray hasn't had the money to make the repairs herself, she says.
But Hearts & Hands Disaster Recovery, an organization that is working to repair homes still damaged in the area, is working on her case.
Other families on
But local groups, like Hearts & Hands,
"The state doesn't recognize you" and other grant providers "won't recognize you unless you have a rebuild committee," Wood said.
"Until we've got volunteers willing to do it," the relief work may have to stop, he added, citing the number of families still waiting for help.
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