Despite Brooklyn Tornado, August Storm Damaged Queens Most
BY RICHARD GENTILVISO

A month after President George W. Bush declared Queens a major disaster area because of severe flood damage from an August 8 storm that brought a tornado touchdown in Brooklyn and Staten Island, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is taking over Disaster Assistance Service Centers set up by the city Office of Emergency Management (OEM) right after the storm.

The DASC in Flushing, as well as one in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, are now Small Business Administration (SBA)- FEMA Recovery Centers. As of October 1, SBA and FEMA representatives will focus on helping people fill out applications for lowinterest disaster loans from the SBA and provide information on their FEMA applications.

"October 30 is the deadline [for applying]" said Kim Anderson, a FEMA public information officer, at the October meeting of Community Board 4 in Corona. "We do not want any New Yorker that sustained damage to miss this opportunity."

Anderson said to register to be considered for disaster assistance, call 1-800-621- FEMA (3362). The number operates seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Registration is mandatory.

FEMA can provide assistance to homeowners and renters for basements damaged by flood, sewer backup or ground saturation and/or seepage. Foundations, furnaces, water heaters, main panels and other basement components are considered on a caseby case basis. Personal property damages are assessed by an inspector and eligibility is determined on a case-by-case basis as well.

SBA disaster loans provide funds to homeowners and renters to repair or replace eligible personal, real and business property damaged by flooding or rising water and can provide additional funds for mitigation to protect property against future damages.

"SBA is not just for businesses," a representative told board members.

SBA loans for homeowners or renters go up to a maximum $200,000 for property damages and $40,000 for personal property. Interest rates for homeowners and renters are 3.125 percent up to a maximum of 30 years. Business owners are charged at 4 percent.

"We are basically concerned with the habitability of the home, some things won't be covered," said a FEMA representative. The federal declaration is specifically for damage caused by the August 8 storm.

Board Member Clara Salas said there has been confusion about calling 311 to report damages.

"311 is the city [of New York]- that's how the process started," said Anderson. "But it is totally separate from registering with FEMA. If you called 311 but haven't called and registered with FEMA, then you have not registered."

After the August 8 storm, the OEM set up a center in Flushing at the Tzu Chi Foundation, located at 137-22 Northern Blvd., modeled after FEMA Recovery Centers, to help with disaster assistance.

Then on August 20, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer asked FEMA to declare Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island disaster areas because of the August 8 storm. But on August 31, FEMA administrator David Paulson announced disaster assistance would be authorized in Queens only.

An estimated 1,356 homes in Queens required repairs because of the storms compared to 189 homes in Brooklyn and 21 in Staten Island, according to a September 4 report in the New York Times online City Room. There were also 460 households needing temporary housing in Queens, compared with 76 in Brooklyn and one in Staten Island, according to the Times report.

"We are working jointly with OEM and we have the support of New York City and New York state," Anderson said.