Hundreds of Superstorm Sandy victims have a chilling message for those digging out of their flooded homes in Texas, Louisiana and Florida: the hurricane was just the beginning of your misery. “My suggestion to anybody that was flooded (or) will be flooded, put on your big girl pants because it’s going to be a long bumpy ride,” said Diane Mazzacca of Beach Haven West, N.J., who’s still waiting for full reimbursement for the damage to her 1,400-square-foot house nearly five years after Sandy. (Via USA Today)

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez says that FEMA should investigate allegations that insurance companies handling Sandy flood damage claims are manipulating those claims to shortchange victims. Roseanne Colletti reports. (Via NBC)

Carrie Berry, of Keansburg, was denied a flood insurance claim because the foundational damage that was revealed after Sandy was caused — in her insurer’s opinion — by her home settling and not by the floodwaters. An unrelated civil case in New York revealed engineering reports, which were paid for by an insurance company, were changed without basis, resulting in a claim denial to a Sandy-impact homeowner. (Via APP)

Americans have long felt the devastating financial burden of the catastrophic effects of flooding. With annual economic losses averaging a whopping fifty billion dollars per year, flooding has notoriously earned its place as the most costly, and unfortunately the most common, natural disaster to disrupt the United States. Flooding is the greatest financial danger among the possible hazards brought on by hurricanes, which often bring flooding hundreds of miles inland, placing communities that normally would not be affected by the strongest hurricane winds in great danger. A mere few inches of water due to flooding could mean damages costing upwards of five figures. (Via Touro Law)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been holding talks with lawyers representing Superstorm Sandy victims who say insurance claims fraud cheated them out of tens of thousands of dollars. (Via Capital Public Radio)