Rebuilding Home
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Janice Harmon, a hematology clinical research nurse in our cancer clinical trials office, is one of 300 residents in Queens, whose home was severely affected by a sewage flooding nightmare over Thanksgiving weekend.
On Saturday, 11/30/19, at approximately 2 AM, Janice’s husband woke up to use the restroom and was alarmed to find himself stepping into inches of raw sewage water. Immediately, Janice and her husband called the city as their basement continued to fill with sewage for several hours. There was a lack of response from all city agencies until Janice called NY1 for coverage to prompt help and clean up. The back-up eventually filled her basement several feet where the initial pumping of sewage did not occur until late Saturday night. The city finally started sending representatives to evaluate damage however, this was delayed for several reasons out of her control. Residents, including Janice, were mandated to evacuate their homes due to the gas being emitted from waste and the continuous re-flooding after several hours of pumping. Everything in Janice’s basement was damaged, including the boiler, furnace, water tank, wiring, furniture, appliances and personal items. The scent travels through a 15 block radius, where they are concerned about mold and spore formation on all floors of her home. Janice was forced to leave her house without any personal items including clothing for herself, husband and four children. The city is not providing housing for home owners and Janice is responsible for hotel costs until further notice. The earliest Janice and her family may be able to return to their home is after the holidays. However, it could be several months.
Janice has not been able to sleep over the past few days as she has to be available whenever anyone from a city agency shows up. Through this entire ordeal, Janice has still been coming into work to care for our oncology patients.
Insurance is only covering minimal loss where Janice will be forced to replace a heating system, water tank, furniture, clothes, and mattresses at minimum. Janice has been a rock through everything despite the continuous roadblocks. We started this account to help out Janice as much as possible. Please see the links below for the news coverage to date. Thank you so much for coming together to help her and her family during this disaster!!!
https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2019/12/01/raw-sewage-spill-leaves-hundreds-of-queens-basement-flooded
On Saturday, 11/30/19, at approximately 2 AM, Janice’s husband woke up to use the restroom and was alarmed to find himself stepping into inches of raw sewage water. Immediately, Janice and her husband called the city as their basement continued to fill with sewage for several hours. There was a lack of response from all city agencies until Janice called NY1 for coverage to prompt help and clean up. The back-up eventually filled her basement several feet where the initial pumping of sewage did not occur until late Saturday night. The city finally started sending representatives to evaluate damage however, this was delayed for several reasons out of her control. Residents, including Janice, were mandated to evacuate their homes due to the gas being emitted from waste and the continuous re-flooding after several hours of pumping. Everything in Janice’s basement was damaged, including the boiler, furnace, water tank, wiring, furniture, appliances and personal items. The scent travels through a 15 block radius, where they are concerned about mold and spore formation on all floors of her home. Janice was forced to leave her house without any personal items including clothing for herself, husband and four children. The city is not providing housing for home owners and Janice is responsible for hotel costs until further notice. The earliest Janice and her family may be able to return to their home is after the holidays. However, it could be several months.
Janice has not been able to sleep over the past few days as she has to be available whenever anyone from a city agency shows up. Through this entire ordeal, Janice has still been coming into work to care for our oncology patients.
Insurance is only covering minimal loss where Janice will be forced to replace a heating system, water tank, furniture, clothes, and mattresses at minimum. Janice has been a rock through everything despite the continuous roadblocks. We started this account to help out Janice as much as possible. Please see the links below for the news coverage to date. Thank you so much for coming together to help her and her family during this disaster!!!
https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2019/12/01/raw-sewage-spill-leaves-hundreds-of-queens-basement-flooded
Organizer
Christina Persaud
Organizer
New York, NY
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