For families recovering from storm damage, insurance woes add to ordeal

After being pummeled by two tropical storms that submerged basements, cracked home foundations and destroyed belongings, Northeastern U.S. residents still in the throes of recovery are being hit with another unexpected blow: Thousands of families are now swamped with financial losses because they didn't have flood insurance.

Most of those caught off guard by the intense downpours from the remnants of Hurricane Ida and Tropical Storm Henri lived in areas outside of coastal floodplains, making flood insurance an afterthought for most of the working-class families whose neighborhoods were among the hardest hit.

"When we called the insurance company, the first thing they told us is that they don't provide any assistance for anything that's caused by a storm. And they left it at that," Amit Shivprasad said, his rising voice echoing frustrations shared among his neighbors in the Jamaica section of Queens.