After Northeast flooding, insurance woes swamp residents

NEW YORK (AP) — After being pummeled by two tropical storms that submerged basements, cracked home foundations and destroyed belongings, Northeastern U.S. residents still in the throes of recovery are being hit with another unexpected blow: Thousands of families are now swamped with financial losses because they didn't have flood insurance.

Most of those caught off guard by the intense downpours from the remnants of Hurricane Ida and Tropical Storm Henri lived in areas outside of coastal floodplains, making flood insurance an afterthought for most of the working-class families whose neighborhoods were among the hardest hit.

“When we called the insurance company, the first thing they told us is that they don’t provide any assistance for anything that’s caused by a storm. And they left it at that,” Amit Shivprasad said, his rising voice echoing frustrations shared among his neighbors in the Jamaica section of Queens.

For weeks now, Shivprasad and his parents have been crammed into a relative’s apartment after New York City building inspectors declared their home uninhabitable.

Floodwaters from Ida, exacerbated by overflowing storm and sewer drains, ripped through an exterior wall and drowned two of the family's tenants in a basement apartment. The storm killed about 50 people across the Northeast, many of whom drowned in basement apartments or in cars. It lashed the region less than two weeks after a drenching from Henri.

Residents in Shivprasad's neighborhood have long complained about inadequate drainage that makes flooding a frequent worry.

“This is not a flood zone, which is something I was shocked at,” said Shivprasad, whose family home lies 4 miles inland from the nearest flood plain. If it were in a flood zone, the family’s mortgage company would have likely...