Almost 200 Queens homeowners have inundated the city with more than $4 million in claims for summer flood damage they say the city should have prevented.
The residents blame old, insufficient sewers for the mess on Aug. 8, when three inches of rain fell in an hour, crippling the subway system and flooding homes.
“I went downstairs into our basement and there was a foot of water with sewer contaminant in it,” said Marcia Butler, of Sunnyside, Queens, who filed a $9,000 claim. She and her musician husband had to wade through it to save his instruments.
The 201 claims for the Aug. 8 flooding amount to least $3.3 million – the total is actually higher because some residents didn’t put down dollar amounts – and follow 84 damage claims, totaling at least $781,000, filed after a massive July 18 rainstorm, which dumped five inches of rain in two hours.
“We cannot comment on any individual case but we recognize the urgency of those who experienced this problem and suffered losses, so we are reviewing these cases, and where necessary, are requesting further documentation from people,” said Jeff Simmons, a spokesman for Comptroller William Thompson.
The city isn’t alone in paying out for the floods. Because Queens was considered a disaster area after last month’s storms, about $1.9 million in federal funds have also been approved.