New York authorities have rejected every single one of the city's requests for financial compensation for damage from Hurricane Ida

A year ago, the remnants of Hurricane Ida flooded the two-room apartment in Forest Hills where Heidi Pashkow and her husband live. And only now the couple is finally starting to settle into their house on the ground floor, which is more than four decades old. This is after they lived with their son's family for about nine months and spent nearly $30 on renovations. the city

Pashkow received a couple of thousand dollars from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). And she filed a negligence lawsuit against the city for damage caused by a sewer overflow during a storm, hoping to get some money.

Pashkou said she was shocked when she received a letter from City Comptroller Brad Lander on August 15 completely refuting her claim. She wasn't the only one. 4703 New Yorkers filed lawsuits against the city after their homes were flooded during the hurricane. According to the department, all 4703 applicants received refusals.

The gist of the claims is that the city's negligence in maintaining the sewers resulted in flood damage.

The storm killed at least 13 people in New York on September 1, 2021.

More than seven centimeters of rain fell on Central Park in one hour, beating previous rainfall records. The rain destroyed the city's sewer systems, which were built to handle rainfall of less than five centimeters per hour.

The comptroller's office says it is investigating each claim to determine if the city's negligence led to the flooding. But the decisions are based on the precedent set by the 1907 case that municipal governments are not liable for damage from excessive rainfall. Even if the city sewer system was overflowing.

“As a result, New York City is not responsible for damages resulting from Hurricane Ida. And your claim is rejected,” the letters sent by the controller say.

On the subject: How New York City's Homeless Survived the Flood and Hurricane Ida: Personal Stories

Pashkow said she believes the city is at fault because it controls the infrastructure.

“I could challenge that and say, ‘If you fixed the sewer, it wouldn’t be a problem,’” Pashkow said.-

“No one is moving back to the first floor, just me and the manager,” she said in a separate text message on Tuesday. “Everyone is paranoid, and so am I when it rains.”

In an email, FEMA spokesman Don Caetano said the agency is working with the City and State of New York to apply lessons learned from previous disasters and take corrective action to mitigate their effects in the future. He declined to assess the state of the city's readiness, but said, "We are working collectively to address the challenges we faced during Hurricane Ida."

He declined to comment on the city's denial of all claims.

Bhagwandin's neighbor Jennifer Muklal said she needed to renovate the entire basement and most of the ground floor. Because in September last year it was flooded with water and sewage.

Muklal and her family lived in the house, despite all the necessary repairs. And on August 15 received a letter of refusal.

“I can't go anywhere else,” she said. And she added that the city coped with the situation after the storm very badly. And ideally, the family would like to sell their house.

“The city did what it wanted to, for the sake of news and popularity,” she added. The woman didn't expect much help from the government after fighting sewage floods for years.

“The city has let us down before, so I'm sure there will be no more help,” Muklal said.

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards called for more federal funding for infrastructure to protect the area from future storms. He also criticized the actions of the city to eliminate the consequences of storms.

“This decision is an unfortunate epitome of negligence and a clear failure by the city when it comes to extreme weather preparedness,” he said.

Those who were denied their claims and who want to challenge this decision have until the end of November to file a lawsuit against the city.

Labyrinth of supposed help

Some Hurricane Ida victims have said that recovery funding and other in-kind assistance offered by government officials at the city, state, and federal levels was insufficient to cover their losses and repairs.

As of Monday, FEMA has approved almost $223 million to help 88 people across the state. At the same time, 718 people in New York received just over $61 million. The average payment was $696.

For undocumented immigrants and others not eligible for federal assistance, the state and city have created a separate $27 million relief fund. There is a maximum of $72 per eligible family. The state has resumed the application period until the end of April after the original deadline in January.

According to Mercedes Padilla, the state's New American Affairs spokeswoman, the state has given more than $1,8 million to 373 applicants through the fund as of Monday. According to her, another 181 applicants should also receive money.

In emails sent Aug. 15 to the city's Office of Emergency Management and the state's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, Lander laid out ways to improve the government's post-disaster situation. Contract legal aid for people who need it and incorporate post-disaster needs into the city's larger housing plan.

OEM and DHS did not respond to requests for comment.