By Briana Vannozzi
Correspondent
Even after Sandy ripped through Atlantic City, Gus Reyes still had hope.
“When I came to the outside I said maybe my house is fine. When I went downstairs I said, ‘oh my lord,’” he said.
His two-family home, with a rental unit on the bottom floor…destroyed.
“When the storm hit, the water was up six feet high inside this place,” he said.
The tenants are long gone. His FEMA claim? Denied.
Other than repairs he’s done himself — to the tune of around $20,000 — to secure the foundation and main part of his home, it still looks just like it did three years ago. FEMA said his damages “didn’t qualify” but never gave metrics. He tried to fight it, but like many others the frustration took its toll.
Reyes says the process was, “busy, busy, busy all the time. One, two, three hours. It was terrible,” he said.
Even now, with a second chance to file, many are throwing their hands up. Out of 74,000 eligible policyholders in the state, only 6,200 have reopened their claim as of today, according to FEMA.
“It can be daunting for the people who have gone through it and if they followed the steps the first time around only to be denied at every turn. It’s daunting and stressful,” said attorney Brian Wilton.
Wilton’s law firm is representing hundreds of Sandy victims around the state. He’s got a dog in the fight, too. He’s the mayor of Lake Como and the captain of Belmar’s water rescue team where he personally saved hundreds of stranded homeowners. He says this time around it’s just as tricky.
“You have to be prepared to explain to them how this claim, how the reopened claim, is different from the first one. You can’t just resubmit what you had the first time around,” he said.
Wilton’s firm conducted a new survey with the group Stop FEMA Now. They found 93 percent of the Sandy victims believe they were underpaid.
“So they know they were underpaid, but 82 percent don’t think they’d get anything back and what we found out is because again they don’t trust FEMA,” he said.
“Its my family they’re playing with, not me. I don’t care. I can live anywhere. It’s them,” Reyes said.
The Reyes family has suffered a number of setbacks since then, including the death of his wife and the loss of a job. But still he says he’s got to fight.
“I wanted to pursue it because we have to show them that we live here,” he said.
FEMA says this new round of the review will take 90 days to complete, but as Sandy victims will attest the deadlines don’t hold much weight.