Worries about impact of Hurricane Ida on S.I.’s immigrant population

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — “I felt that if I stayed, I would have drowned.”

That is what Rosanna Rey stated as she comprehensive how flood h2o rushed into her basement apartment in Port Richmond as the remnants of Hurricane Ida slammed Staten Island Wednesday night.

Rey, who immigrated from the Dominican Republic seven years back, informed the Advance/SILive.com the apartment has by no means been subject to flooding until eventually the the latest storm.

The solitary mom of two shed every little thing, from beds to clothing to home furnishings.

“All we have correct now is a sofa that a person was capable to give to us,” stated Rey.

Rev. Terry Troia, the govt director of Undertaking Hospitality, thinks there have been at the very least 50 immigrant family members who have been devastated who were being living in basement areas. El Centro del Inmigrante, an immigration center on Port Richmond Avenue, has been making an attempt to lend a hand to many of these households.

Rey recalled by the time she appeared exterior to see the flooding on the streets, her apartment was starting up to get on water. She was screaming for help, but no a person heard her. She called 911 and then known as a neighbor to occur and enable her out.

Drinking water was up to Rey’s waistline, while outdoors it was up to her neck.

The Nationwide Weather Provider recorded a number of inches of rain throughout Staten Island, with the maximum at nine inches. Cars were totaled and households broken throughout the Island.

Rey said that although she referred to as 911, firefighters did not arrive until finally shut to two hrs later. She described she felt as although the federal government should really have improved approaches to assist people today like her, who are dwelling in basements, and are of the immigrant local community.

The Progress/SILive.com reported the working day immediately after Ida, that police were being conducting neighborhood-by-neighborhood searches for flooded basements and checking for men and women in need of support, and that there was a wave of 911 calls designed during the evening.

When Rey lastly returned to her apartment a working day later on, there was even now water, but “dirt-like everywhere.”

Rey was ready to get in contact with El Centro and experienced about six folks appear and aid them cleanse all the things that got ruined.

Andrés Garcia, director of El Centro, expressed problem that, like Rey, a lot of immigrant family members have been impacted by the rain prompted by Ida.

Garcia explained the Rey spouse and children as managing the scenario with “a ton of grace.”

“We helped distinct out this family’s dwelling, in which they shed all the things,” explained Garcia. “They ongoing on with humility, power, and just resilience. They were remaining beneficial and just maintaining their heads up.”

Rey’s daughter expressed to the Progress/SILive.com that even though the loved ones misplaced a large amount of their materials products, her spouse and children is just happy they did not lose their mother, who has been performing added hrs to support the loved ones given that her father’s death.

“Everything we misplaced, we can get back,” mentioned Rey’s daughter. “We are favourable simply because we did not shed my mother, and she is alive.”

El Centro has been able to present as substantially assist as they could to Rey and other people who ended up impacted by Wednesday’s storm.

Rey told the Progress/SILive.com she was supplied a position to go to and fill out paperwork for the Federal Crisis Administration Company (FEMA). She will have to wait and see if they will approve her.

On the other hand, she fears it could not be plenty of, for people who are renting basements.

The Progress/SILive.com described previously that except owners or renters have flood insurance coverage, it is probable that home reduction will not be protected owing to flooding from the storm.

President Joe Biden signed an crisis declaration for New York on Thursday night time, permitting FEMA and the Department of Homeland Protection to give federal help to those people impacted.

Whilst the emergency declaration was designed, property owners will not be in a position to file a FEMA flood application claim until finally Biden approves Personal Home owner Support (IHA).