Rep. Meeks Leads Letter to FEMA Administrator Urging Completion of Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Project

Rep. Meeks Leads Letter to FEMA Urging Completion of Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Project

Washington, D.C.—Congressman Meeks sent a bipartisan letter (below) along with 14 Representatives of New York to FEMA Administrator William B. Long urging him to delay a deadline for Hurricane Sandy insurance claims. Regarding the letter, Congressman Meeks released the following statement:

"In 2012, Superstorm Sandy destroyed the property and uprooted the lives of thousands of New Yorkers. Since then, we have worked painstakingly to overcome the hardships that Sandy wrought with the aid of FEMA and their Sandy Claims Division, but there is still work to be done."

"Due to the mishandling and underpayments of insurance claims, many of our constituents are still in need of guidance, assistance, and time to make themselves whole again. That is why we are asking FEMA to extend their October deadline and continue our partnership so we can finish rebuilding."

The letter was signed by the following Members of Congress: Kathleen Rice, Grace Meng, Adriano Espaillat, Jerrold Nadler, Hakeem Jeffries, Yvette D. Clarke, Sean Patrick Maloney, Thomas Suozzi, Eliot L. Engel, Nydia M. Velásquez, Peter King, Carolyn B. Maloney, Joseph Crowley, and José E. Serrano.

October 17, 2017

Mr. William B. "Brock" Long

Administrator

Federal Emergency Management Agency

500 C Street SW

Washington, D.C. 20024

Dear Administrator Long:

We are writing to bring your attention to a problem facing our constituents. Despite it being nearly five years since Superstorm Sandy devastated our communities, many are still struggling to rebuild, partially due to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's mishandling of claims. We ask that you work hastily and efficiently to complete the remaining claims, delay an arbitrary deadline regarding the Neutral Review, and make our constituents lives' whole once again. We also request a meeting with you at your earliest convenience.

As you know, Superstorm Sandy struck the East Coast in 2012, directly hitting our districts in New York. It wreaked havoc—both economic and emotional—and took many lives. Many of our constituents were and still are flood insurance policyholders. Yet, when they submitted flood insurance claims, through no fault of their own, they were erroneously underpaid because FEMA mishandled their claims. As you know, the Sandy Claims Division, formerly known as the National Flood Insurance Program Transformation Task Force, sought to remedy this by contacting almost 144,000 flood insurance policyholders who filed Hurricane Sandy Claims and offering them an opportunity to have their claims reviewed once again. As of August of this year, your agency has received 19,458 of these requests from policyholders. Accordingly, your agency has completed nearly 98% of those requests.

Also in August, FEMA extended the timeline to allow a policyholder to request a telephone conference call for a Neutral Review, requiring that the oral presentation be concluded by October 25, 2017. However, we are concerned that with the deadline fast approaching, claimants are at risk of missing this deadline. Therefore, we ask that you delay the deadline to permit claimants a little more time to complete the oral presentation. Were your agency to fulfill its obligation to our constituents free of errors they would not have had to endure this exercise. Indeed, in the wake of all of their suffering, many claimants have maintained a near constant struggle in dealing with these follow-up claims.

We understand that rebuilding after such a calamity is a long, arduous process, but it should be done right. We hope that Federal Emergency Management Agency, under your management, prioritizes completing all outstanding Sandy claims. We look forward to meeting with you to discuss the Hurricane Sandy rebuilding process.

Sincerely,

Gregory W. Meeks

Member of Congress