When locals think back to the last weekend of September, the word “flood” is among the first that come to mind.
There’s no debate that Globe-Miami and surrounding areas suffered monumental damage in the wake of the floods. Yet, it was a series of intense storm cells that brought the flooding — and the storms themselves also took a devastating toll on the region.
For many residents, the results are the same: homes with extensive water damage, whether from rising floodwaters or torrential rain. But when it comes to disaster assistance and insurance claims, the distinction between “storm” and “flood” has become a major obstacle.
As victims seek relief, many are being told their losses don’t qualify because the damage doesn’t fit the definition of a “storm” or a “flood.”
Sumeeta Uprety and her husband own two fourplex rental properties in Globe they’ve managed since the early 2000s. Both are retired, and the rental income is their main source of livelihood.
All eight units were affected during the storms. Renters were forced to move out, leaving the couple without rental income and mounting repair and replacement costs.
“We still don't know the full impact of the cost at this point,” she says. “But this is going to hurt us in a big way.”
In addition to rent not coming in, Uprety’s property manager Debbie Cox estimates $25,000 worth in cost, ranging from flooring replacement to mold remediation and extraction.
Despite carrying insurance on the properties for more than 20 years, Uprety said her insurance agent told her that any claim would likely be denied, as she does not explicitly have a flood insurance policy.
Her insurer categorized the damage as flood-related, not storm-related, and each fall into separate insurance policies.
“If water came up, breached a building, got into the building, damaged equipment, materials, the structure, all of that is considered caused by the flood, not the storm,” explains local insurance agent Fernando Shipley. “But if the wind would have ripped the roof off as well, that would be storm damage. And any water that came through the roof would be considered storm damage.”
Many homeowners in the area are running into the same problem, Shipley adds. Some are filing claims so they can receive the denial letters and use those letters in a lawsuit against the insurance companies, or try to use them to qualify for FEMA funding.
Uprety says she doesn’t plan to file, as it could raise her rates without yielding help.
“I have to file and get denied and then apply for federal assistance, and I don't know what federal assistance I may get or not get,” she says. “And I’ll be slapped with a higher insurance rate on a new policy.”
“If I was 20 years younger, I would work that much harder to recover from this,” she adds. “But at this point, with my health, I can't.”
In Central Heights-Midland City, between Globe and Miami, one 68-year-old resident — who asked not to be named — faces an equally disheartening situation.
Her double-wide mobile home, where she has lived for more than 20 years, suffered major roof damage during the storms. Water poured in, damaging the walls and floors and leaving behind mold and mildew.
“I can’t fix the walls inside the house until the roof is fixed,” she says.
Living alone on a $1,200 monthly Social Security check, she sought help where she could.
Humanitarian organization Team Rubicon installed a temporary tarp on her roof, but when she went to the local disaster relief center and sought help from Salvation Army, she was told she didn’t qualify for financial assistance from United Fund because her issue was deemed a roofing problem and was not considered flood damage.
“I would think for us people in the middle, we would get help, too,” she says.
She has homeowner’s insurance, but with her fixed income, she can’t afford the deductible to cover repairs.
All she wants, she says, is for the roof to be fixed so she can start making repairs on the rest of her home.
In Miami, Debbie Stoffler and her two teenagers are living in part of their home after storms destroyed the back bedrooms.
Stoffler’s house, inherited from her grandmother, has always been a work in progress, but until this fall, her family has managed to keep up.
Then the storms hit one after another, and the roof failed, allowing rain to pour into the back bedrooms. The family found themselves making do with just the one bedroom, kitchen, and living room. That’s all the usable space now.
The walls and even the flooring are still wet, and mold has begun to creep in. Buckets and bins have become part of the décor, remaining in place to catch water during the next rain.
“We’re just trying not to lose another house,” Debbie says, referencing the home they lost several years ago to fire.
Despite her own struggles, Debbie took in displaced pets after the floodwaters destroyed neighbors’ homes.
“We have four of our own dogs — and now eleven total,” she says. “I told friends I’d keep their dogs until they got their homes mucked out. I didn’t expect to lose my own space in the process.”
She too tried to get help. She registered with the county and contacted Team Rubicon and the Red Cross within those first few days, but was told she would not qualify for flood relief funding since her home was not flooded from the ground up.
The damage to her home is also considered storm damage. If she had it, perhaps she would qualify for relief through homeowner's insurance. But, like others on her street, she doesn’t have home insurance.
Her roof now holds a patchwork of plywood and tarps, thanks to donations and friends who came to help.
“We got five sheets of lumber donated by Pinal (First Choice Lumber) and they were giving out $100 worth of stuff, like felt paper and tarps,” she says. “That helped.”
“We just want to make this family home livable again,” she adds. “I just want to fix what I can, keep the dogs safe, and make it through the winter.”
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