The deadline for registering with FEMA and with the U.S. Small Business Administration is the middle of next month.
Juan Guerrero is flanked by his two daughters, Fabiola,19, left, and Ibone,15. His wife and their mother Angelica died in the June 1 tornado while shielding Ibone as they took refuge in a bathtub in their home. They are staying in this room at the Comfort Inn on Capital Drive. Angelica F. Guerrero died in the June 1 tornado shielding her 15-year-old daughter from falling debris as a triple-decker at 667 Union St. in West Springfield collapsed around them.
Now, nearly two months after the storm ripped through 39 miles of Western and central Massachusetts, her family is still a week away from getting a permanent place to live.
Her husband, Juan Guerrero, the 15-year-old, Ibone, and older daughter Fabiola, 19, appeared Friday at a press conference in Springfield City Hall meant to dramatize the plight of people left homeless by the tornado.
State officials estimate that up to 150 families are still without a permanent residence.
Tina Brooks, the state undersecretary for housing and community development, held the press conference to announce the region has received $2.5 million from the state to fund housing counselors and help those displaced pay security deposits on new apartments and purchase necessities not covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
This is the house at 667-669 Union St., West Springfield, that collapsed on Angelica Guererro. This photo was taken the day after the June 1 tornado.Juan Guerrero tried unsuccessfully to dig his wife and daughter from the wreckage. It took firefighters more than two hours to reach Angelica F. Guerrero and Ibone. Also killed was 23-year-old Sergey Livchin nearby on Main Street and Virginia Darlow at a Brimfield campground.
Guerrero said he, Fabiola and Ibone have been living in the Comfort Inn in West Springfield.
“It’s just not a good place for anyone to stay beyond two or three days,” he said. “With my two daughters ... it’s not good. They need a permanent place to stay, especially with school starting soon.”
Peter A. Gagliardi, executive director of HAPHousing, said an apartment should be ready for the Guerreros sometime next week. They will also get help paying the rent on that apartment as they piece their lives together.
Gagliardi said HAPHousing assessed the housing needs of 478 households displaced by the tornado. He estimates that a quarter of those households, or about 150 families, is still without permanent housing.
“They might be doubled up with another family and they are just realizing now that they can’t stay there,” he said. “Some of them might be in places where they can’t stay in the cold weather. Some of them need to get relocated before school starts, which is just in a few weeks. Maybe the house they owned can’t be repaired with the insurance money available.”
Using more strict criteria as counting mostly people living in motels, FEMA estimates that 81 households are still looking for housing, Gagliardi said. FEMA said 58 of those 81 families are in Springfield, 17 in West Springfield and the remainder in other towns. Ninety-four percent of those 81 families are renters, according to HAPHousing.
There is also a shortage of affordable housing.
After the tornado in Springfield alone, 514 housing units were condemned, according to HAP. Of those, 357 were rentals and 90 were subsidized. At least 118 homes in Monson, 13 in Wilbraham and 39 in Brimfield aware made uninhabitable.
Guerrero expressed gratitude for the help. But he choked up as he described the frustration of not being able to recover personal effects from the wreckage of the family’s home. He’s especially anxious to retrieve family photographs and other personnel items.
“We have 20 years of memories in that house,” he said. “It’s everything we had together.”
Gagliardi said it is a common complaint. Sometimes a building can be shored up to allow someone inside. Sometimes damage is too significant and everything inside is lost.
The deadline for registering with FEMA and with the U.S. Small Business Administration is Aug. 15. Call 1 (800) 621-3362 or go to www.fema.gov/assistance. Or the SBA at 1 (800) 659-2955 or www.sba.gov.