Having your home flood can be devastating. Water damage can seriously wreck your home, destroying your drywall, damaging your foundation, and even causing conditions that promote mold growth. And that doesn’t even begin to cover the damage it can do to your physical belongings. So many people report losing family heirlooms and priceless memories when they have issues with flooding.
Now, imagine that your home has flooded multiple times over a short period. One woman living in Queens told CBS News that is exactly what she is dealing with after heavy rains caused water to enter her home.
The woman, who has lived in her home for 60 years, explained that the flooding issue is a relatively new one, and something she’s getting tired of dealing with after a summer storm caused the wall of her garage to give out.
And that’s not even the worst of it, since she says that her insurance company has started to give her a hard time when it comes to paying out for damages, leaving her potentially holding the bag when it comes to any additional flooding that may come her way.
One Homeowner in Queens Says She’s Scared
Whenever there are storms in the forecast, some of the residents in one Queens neighborhood get to work boarding up their homes to try and keep as much water out as they can. That includes MaryAnn Maragioglio, who says her home has flooded three times this summer alone, with one storm leaving her with 5 feet of water in her basement.
“Every time it rains, I pick up what little bit I got left, and I’m scared,” she said.
According to Maragioglio, the flooding has only become a problem in the past five years, and she thinks it has to do with the topography of the streets. “Sixty-Nine goes up, Laurel Hill comes down, so everything pools here,” she explained of her neighborhood.
The streets aren’t the only problem, though, and it sounds like what lies underneath them is causing a bigger issue, since the neighborhood’s sewage systems can’t handle the fast-moving water, which causes it to back up onto the street… and eventually into homes.
Maragioglio’s Insurance Won’t Pay Any More Claims
The Queens woman says that she’s lost a lot of important mementos due to the flooding. “The only thing that they can’t replace is all my photos,” she said. “Everything we had left from my parents and sister is all gone.” And while the insurance has covered the cost of the initial cleanup and repairs, they refused to do the same for the additional floods this summer.
“I already got paid for it once. They’re not gonna pay me again,” she continued. “I’ve been paying how many years that I haven’t used the insurance, and now that I need it, I can’t get it. So that money that I’ve been putting in all these years, I can’t claim it?”
What Maragioglio says about her insurance company may sound illegal, but the website for Averill & Reaney Attorneys at Law says filing too many claims can have consequences. According to the website, this can result in homeowners being told they can’t renew or having their policies dropped when there are multiple claims within a short period of time.
Hopefully Maragioglio figures something out with her insurance policy soon, because it’s only August and there is still plenty of wet weather ahead this year, which means she could face even more flood damage in the coming months.