Aid Elusive After Freak Storm

Laticia Thompson usually hits the mall right after Thanksgiving in search of gifts for her three children. But this year, the 32-year-old single mother will spend her Christmas Club money to repair her South Los Angeles home, damaged three weeks ago by a freak rainstorm.

The same storm flooded neighbor Edgar Tista’s home and ruined his 1991 Mustang. Tista, 26, said he has no money to fix up his residence or remove the foul odor left by the rainwater.

Down the block, Duncan Carter, 46, has taken nearly $12,000 from his savings and begun renovating his three-bedroom home, which was swamped by eight inches of water.

At least 125 homeowners in South Los Angeles, Watts, Willowbrook, Compton, Lynwood and South Gate face similar situations after a Nov. 12 storm poured more than five inches of rain and hail on the area.

Los Angeles County, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army supplied food vouchers, clothes and emergency shelter after the storm. Local assistance is starting to arrive, but most families still find themselves waiting for financial aid.

The damage in the affected areas was not extensive enough to bring assistance from the state or the Federal Emergency Management Agency, officials say. Even residents with homeowners’ insurance say they are not eligible to file claims because they never purchased separate flood insurance.

Carter said that, in conversations with insurance agents, “flood insurance was never mentioned at all, never.”

For residents of Belhaven Street, a quiet cul-de-sac of decade-old homes in South Los Angeles, the flooding and its effects are all too real.

Thompson used $1,000 from her children’s Disney World fund to pay a company to dehumidify her four-bedroom home. The goal was to remove the stale smell, dry the walls and save the carpet. The process was partially successful.

The odor is not as strong as before, but by simply pressing with her hand, Thompson can move the wet bottom inch of yellow wall in her 3-year-old daughter’s room. The blue carpet, which once covered Thompson’s entire home, lies rolled in her frontyard, leaving a cold concrete floor with nails sprouting from its sides. Living room furniture crowds her kitchen.

“My homeowner’s insurance company said we’re not covered without flood insurance,” Thompson said. “My home warranty said they would cover damage if it came through the roof, but there is an exclusion as far as floods.”

After the storm, the wet insulation, walls and carpet bothered two of Thompson’s children, who suffer from asthma. Thompson, a Sheriff’s Department record clerk and a student at Southwest College, stayed for two weeks at a hotel, charging the $1,300 cost. When she could no longer afford the hotel, she moved in with her mother.

On Tuesday afternoon, Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services surprised Thompson with good news. The nonprofit organization will replace her drywall as part of the city’s Watts Storm Relief Fund. Thompson still plans to apply for a low-interest city loan to replace her kitchen cabinets and furniture and to complete other repairs.

Farther down Belhaven Street, just north of the Century Freeway, Edgar Tista waits for aid. “We haven’t seen anything,” said Tista, a mechanic.

Water seeped under the doors, fell from ceiling vents and rained down the chimney during the storm, causing an estimated $10,000 worth of damage. Hail created a mountain around his dark green Mustang, wrecking its engine, power windows and interior, Tista said.

His walls have begun to bubble from the moisture. Tista, who shares his home with his wife, his sister-in-law and her three children, removed his damp gray carpet, but still has not been able to get rid of what he calls “a rotten food smell.”

Newscasters “told us to leave the windows open for ventilation,” Tista said. “But it gets cold at night. We can’t leave our heat on for too long because it smells like sewer water. We’re trying to stay warm, but we don’t want to get sick from bacteria.”

Dr. Jonathan Fielding, director of public health for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, said, “Mold can make asthma worse and affect allergies.” He advised residents to keep affected areas as dry as possible and to get rid of wet carpets.

Health concerns are only a small part of the Tistas’ problem. They have no money to repair their home. Fortunately for the family, city and county officials say they want to help.

“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure people’s homes can be returned the way they were before the tragedy,” said Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who represents much of the affected area.

Several relief funds, created by Hahn and County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, are beginning to distribute funds to storm victims whose homeowners’ insurance will not cover repairs.

Carter, Thompson’s next-door neighbor, did not wait for aid.

He has ripped up the carpet that covered his 1,800-square-foot house and replaced it with shiny wood floors in the living room. He has moved the dining room furniture, end tables and large boxes of clothes onto the patio and covered the items with a large blue tarp. He has cut two inches of wet drywall and insulation from the bottom of his walls. And he has started treating damaged wood beams and installing new insulation and drywall.

An oil field maintenance worker, Carter returned to work Monday after a 12-day break to expedite home repairs.

“Since the storm, we are trying to rebuild our lives,” Carter said. “We cannot wait for FEMA because this is unhealthy, so we’ve been working feverishly.”

He estimates his property damage at $30,000.

Beginning to run low on funds, Carter was relieved Wednesday when Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services installed carpeting in the home’s three bedrooms.

Carter has asked his insurance company to help with other repairs but has not heard back from an adjuster who assessed his home last week.

Officials with the California Department of Insurance advise homeowners to study their policies and the circumstances under which damage occurred. In some cases, hail or wind-driven rainstorms are covered, said Bryant Henley, staff counsel for the department.

Assistance is starting to reach some residents; others whose homes were damaged say they continue to hope.

In Compton, Jean Williams, 68, said rainwater leaked into two of her bedrooms, destroying carpets and ruining the upper corners of her drywall. Williams, a retired nutrition supervisor, says the damp carpet gives off an odor that irritates her asthma.

Williams replaced her bedroom’s wet carpet, but she estimates it will cost nearly $5,000 to fix just her roof.

“I haven’t gotten any type of help,” she said. “I’ll be thankful to get any help at all.”

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Where to get help

Because the Nov. 12 storm hit a number of cities and unincorporated areas, many residents say they still do not know where to seek resources for home repairs. Here are some agencies offering aid to those who qualify:

* Watts Storm Relief Fund, for city of Los Angeles residents: (888) 524-2845

* Second District Relief Fund, for unincorporated Willowbrook: (323) 890-7239

* Community Development Foundation/2003 Flood Relief Fund, for Los Angeles County residents: (323) 890-7125 (Contact Thomas White)

* Lynwood Rehabilitation Program: (310) 603-0220 (Contact Mark Fullerton)