Riverhead homeowners still waiting on help with storm damage

The Town of Riverhead gave the owners of the most damaged houses on Horton Avenue time this week to finally get inside and salvage whatever they can.

There isn't much. And there isn't much time, either.

There will come a day when Riverhead will silence its pumps and again the groundwater will rise.

Tick, tock.

It's been almost two months since a March storm left much of Horton Avenue, including two drainage basins and an elevated traffic circle, under water.

Eleven families remain unable to return home. And, for some, it's doubtful they ever will. Most residents have lost much, or all, of what they own. And those who got back into their houses early enough to keep spots of mold at bay can't kill the other mold that is sprouting, unseen, inside ceilings and walls.

No house has been condemned or - as some have suggested - readied for a move to another part of town. That's because Riverhead is waiting to see what the federal government will do.

The federal government, meanwhile, has a request from Gov. David A. Paterson to treat the two separate, brutal March storms as one. But the state has yet to hear from the federal government on whether the second storm, which destroyed Horton Avenue, will qualify for assistance.

And even if it does, residents fear, there's no guarantee that federal money will flow their way.

"If Suffolk County had 10 neighborhoods like Horton Avenue, there would be no question of qualifying for help," said a spokesman for Rep. Tim Bishop's office.

"But Suffolk County doesn't have 10 neighborhoods as bad as Horton Avenue," he said. "That is good for Suffolk County. But it's bad for Horton Avenue, because one neighborhood is too small to make the cut."

It looks like local officials are waiting for Bishop and other federal and state officials to solve the problem.

But residents are waiting, too.

Linda Hobson, a social worker, lost her rental housing this week. She's moving back with a friend so that the landlord can have the rental ready for the expected Memorial Day rush to the Hamptons.

Allan Hatcher, back on Horton Avenue last week in coveralls, got into four of the worst damaged homes for some heavy-duty cleaning. His frail and elderly mother, who owns the homes, lost the rental income the family used to help pay for her home health care.

Ivory Brown, who had spent thousands of dollars renovating her home before the flooding, is now watching it fall apart. "I see cracks," she said. "Even if somebody were to tell me today, 'Let's move your house,' I'd be afraid that I would watch it lifted and falling into pieces."

What do residents, many of whom are elderly and on fixed incomes, need?

"People want to help with clothing and with furniture, and that is fine, but where do people with no homes or with homes where mold is growing put things?" said Shirley E. Coverdale, whose husband, Charles, is pastor of the First Baptist Church of Riverhead, which has been working with residents.

"People lost cars, so they need to pay for transportation. They lost homes, so they need to pay rent," Coverdale said. "Those who were lucky enough to get minor damage but who have no flood insurance need funds to pay for drywall, for repairs."

Slowly, painfully, residents and even some town officials are coming to the reality that Horton Avenue will never be the same. "We're artificially keeping the water back," said Sean Walter, the town's supervisor, noting that Riverhead has spent thousands of dollars pumping out the area. "We wanted to give homeowners with the worst damage the chance to get in and see what was going on."

But Brown knows fully well what's going on.

"I try to get into my house from time to time and do some packing," she said. "But I'm going to have to leave a lot behind. It's destroyed. It's so hard going back to see that."

What does she want?

"I want what I thought I already had," Brown said.

"I want a home."

Tick, tock.