Hurricane Irene Property Damage Claims
Legal Firms Want to Learn More About Hurricane Irene Recovery Problems
Katie Banks
May 15, 2012
When Hurricane Irene ripped through Eastern North Carolina last year, it left hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in its wake.
The storm destroyed more than 1,000 homes in the state, and nine months later, victims are still picking up the pieces.
Some are struggling to fix their property because of delays in insurance claims or construction scams.
Now, two legal firms – Womble Carlyle and Legal Aid of North Carolina – are teaming up for what they call a “pro bono project” to help Irene victims sort through unresolved claims related to hurricane damage.
"We don't know what the lay of the land is,” says Tripp Greason, pro bono director at Womble Carlyle. “Claim delays, contract scams, denials and the like, those can be just as tough and hard to negotiate as the original disaster and the purpose of this phase of our project is to find out what's there."
In their press release, the firms use the phrase "pro bono", a legal term which means without charge.
But that doesn't necessarily mean they will pursue your legal case for free.
Greason says rather, they are looking for what the majority of victims need, and right now it’s all about information gathering.
“The better the participation of those who live in the affected counties, the sooner we will have the information we need to assess what we can do and then to form a plan about how we do it,” he says.
Greason says this will give them an idea of the overall recovery efforts and pinpoint the most common problems.
He adds the more people who call in, the better their chances of getting aid.
"We're doing the best that we can right now to determine where people need help so that we can then determine how to provide help to them," he says.
9 On Your Side asked the law firm if they planned a class action lawsuit, but they said no.
If you want to call their Helpline, you can reach them at 1-866-219-5262 to report your disaster-related problems and receive information about insurance, FEMA and more.
The project focuses on relief issues in these counties: Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde, Jones, Martin, Northampton, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pitt, Tyrrell and Washington.
SOURCE: www2.wnct.com/news/2012/may/15/legal-firms-want-learn-more-about-hurricane-irene--ar-2281513/