A lone signifcant victory against FEMA frustration

BURLCO BUZZ So the moral of the story is, the squeaky flooded-out wheel gets the endlessly stalled insurance-settlement money.

In the case of Maurice Corkery in his gutted little slice of paradise in Ocean City, N.J., his frustrations really touched a nerve with the many people whose insurance claims - despite Federal Emergency Management Agency reassurances - remain up in the air, stalled, or in need

of appeals and supplement.

But about a week after Corkery went passionately and eloquently public about his endless bureaucratic frustrations with FEMA flood insurance - have your engineer talk to my engineer about sums it up - the Hartford Insurance Co. said it was cutting him the $79,300 check he had sought to tear down the ruined little rancher and put up an elevated modular home that meets all FEMA requirements.

Corkery, who spoke with the passion of a WIP caller complaining about former Eagles coach Andy Reid, told his tale in The Inquirer, then leveraged that into an appearance on Fox Business Channel and an outraged-on-his-behalf Gerri Willis.

It touched a nerve, judging from the response, among people like Corkery who paid their insurance premiums, spent their savings on modest beach homes, and hoped to secure a little bit of Jersey Shore goodness for their families (in Corkery's case, a new grandson).

Corkery at first thought the check would mean the home would be ready by June. Now, he's thinking mid-July.

"I have applied for demo permits," he wrote in an e-mail Monday. "The modular house has been ordered. My builder told me O.C. still has only one guy who approves the permits. I hope it moves fast."

One thing is certain: The new house will be the same yellow as the old one.

Amy S. Rosenberg, www.inquirer.com/downashore