A Sandy-ravaged home in Breezy Point. Homeowners were not only displaced and financially destroyed as a result of Superstorm Sandy, but in the years since have had to contend with altered engineering reports conducted by their insurance companies. State Senator Joseph Addabbo, Jr (D-Howard Beach). has written a letter to legislators urging them to ensure a complete investigation of FEMA. Photo Credit: File Photo.
Following allegations of fraud in Superstorm Sandy reports from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, State Senator Joseph Addabbo, Jr. has reached out to United States Senators Kristen Gillibrand and Charles Schumer, requesting they do all in their power to ensure a “full and complete investigation is carried out to determine if any FEMA and/or National Flood Insurance Program employees willfully, knowingly and wrongly altered engineering reports on the extent of home damage caused by the storm in an effort to reduce insurance payments to affected homeowners.”
In a letter dated March 3, Addabbo expressed “deep concern” about the revelations by Brad Kieserman, an executive with FEMA’s Flood Insurance Program, which were aired on CBS’ 60 Minutes on March 1. During the interview, Kieserman admitted to having witnessed evidence of fraud in engineering reports conducted by private insurance companies after Superstorm Sandy; these are companies overseen by FEMA’s flood insurance program. As a result of the doctored reports, thousands of homeowners received lesser insurance payouts for damage to or the loss of their homes.
“After dealing with the ravages of Sandy, my constituents should not have been forced to deal with dishonest FEMA or NFIP personnel. It is unacceptable to believe that the initial federal agency that was supposed to help people after the storm was actually serving as a roadblock to full recovery. In addition to requiring a full Congressional investigation of this issue, I also urge you to pursue action to reimburse those homeowners who may have been defrauded with artificially low insurance payments after having their properties destroyed and their lives irrevocably changed,” read Addabbo’s letter.
By Forum Staff
