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“Energy brings hope. These people need hope,” said Sergio Bertoni, 61, pointing to his neighbors’ houses. “The President is the only person who can help right now.”
Mr. Bertoni, a doorman working in Manhattan, said he suffered over $40,000 in loss and damage to the home he’s owned since 2001. Last week, the floodwaters’ pressure was so high that it blew up the basement. He went inside, leaving electronic appliances and devices such as computers, washing machines, dryers, televisions and refrigerators in ruins.
“We hope anything that can come through FEMA comes here,” said Xenia Bertoni, 27-year-old daughter of Mr. Bertoni, who worked as a manager in a physical therapy office until her mother contracted Covid last year. She quit her job to take care of her mother, who had been in a coma for nearly five months, and left her family with one more income.
For Mr. Bertoni, who moved to the United States from his native Argentina in 1989, his hope is that Mr. Biden’s presence will prompt the Federal Emergency Management Agency to give as much money as possible.
“My dream was to be an American,” he said. “My soul is in this country. America should take care of its people.”
On Monday, the governors of New York and New Jersey, Received federal aid from Biden administrationAfter heavy rains and catastrophic flooding last week, both states declared areas major disaster areas.
Funding from FEMA means that people displaced by the storm in approved countries, including those without insurance coverage, will be eligible to receive money for repairs. Officials from both states said it would also cover legal services, unemployment benefits and crisis counseling.
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