Beautiful family needs help rebuild after a flood

On August 18 my brother and his family of 5 bought their first home in Rocky Point. On August 20 he was laid off from his job but welcomed the time off to help move the family into their new home.

On the night of September 1st they went to bed thinking it was just rain, there was no hype in the news on the storm and the tornado and flood warnings came very late. They also just had a brand new ADT system installed a few days earlier. The fire alarms in the house did go off announcing “Fire” which is what woke them up at 1am but a call was never made from the security system. My brother realized they were trapped on the second floor, as he tried to get to the first floor of their house which was submerged under approximately 6ft of water and another 6-7ft surrounded the outside, so they called the Rocky Point Fire Department for help.‍

The families puppy Muggy was in his cage on the first floor and did not make it.

The Chiefs and RP Fire personnel on scene determined the best plan was to put a swimmer in the water to gain access to the house and family. The rescue swimmer was tethered to a tender and swam to the house and forced a window to gain entry. Once inside the swimmer removed my brother, his wife and three children Sal 10, Tony 8, Sabrina 5. ❤️

A tremendous shout out and heartfelt gratitude to all the EMS and Rocky Point Company 1 personnel for saving my family, getting them dry and warm.

David & Melanie lost both their cars in the flood and their home is still filled with water. They called All State (their car and home insurance company) on September 2 and were told it would take 72 hours to assign an appraiser to setup and appointment. Their broker keeps telling them they will not get anything from insurance since this is a flood and they do not have flood insurance.

They were never told they would need flood insurance since they are not in a flood zone. FEMA has not declared NY a state of emergency so they cannot get any assistance from that. They put in a claim with the Town of Brookhaven due to the sump next to their house is filled so all the water went to them, in addition the burm at the road collapsed and all that water went to them.

David and Melanie wanted to wait and see what assistance they will get from their Insurance, FEMA and/or the Town. The more they talk to others the more it is looking like they will not get anything and if they do it will be a very, very long time.

This family has been trough so much and need our help. They are looking to get a camper to live in while they rebuild their house. Many have already reached out to help them clean up, demo, rebuild, etc.

Everyone has been so amazing asking what they can do to help. David and Melanie know that so many others have been impacted and have it worse than them but if you can give anything to help this family it would be soooo appreciated.

Love, Hugs and Good Vibes to you all!