During a visit at his Orange County home Thursday, Henry Radcliffe said the destruction of parts of his home during Hurricane Ida happened so quickly, he did not have time to rescue old mementos and photos.

“I walked down here. It was four inches, then it rose to a foot,” he recalled.

His downstairs living space, which he had just outfitted with an air hockey table and a dart board, was ruined, he said, when the roof blew open, allowing water to pour into his basement.

Radcliffe did not recall any roof leaks prior to the late-August storm.

“I lost all my stuff,” he said. “The basement was always dry for twelve years. I thought it was safe.”

He said his insurance company denied his claim without sending a representative to survey the damage.

“Nobody came here from my insurance company,” he said. “And it’s sad. It’s sad.”

Radcliffe and other Orange County residents who suffered losses during Ida might receive a lifeline.

“It took a lot of advocacy. Let’s put it that way,” District 28 Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney said Thursday of a campaign to compel the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to authorize government assistance directly to Orange County residents who were affected by Ida.

“[It] previously existed for some of the other counties that were affected, but not for Orange County. So this is new and it’s good news for anybody who has damage and maybe doesn’t have insurance, and needs help.”

Maloney is encouraging constituents in positions like that of Radcliffe to apply for the aid. They could receive assistance paying for temporary housing, roof repairs, car repairs and medical care.

Radcliffe plans to apply. Based on his 40 years of experience working in government, Radcliffe said he is not expecting an overwhelmingly generous — nor timely — response to his requests. He hopes to receive at least something though, as bills are adding up.

He has already paid thousands for mold remediation and installation of a sump pump.

“I gotta get off my butt and get things done,” he said of the application process. “Now that the FEMA thing came through, things, I hope, will move much faster.”

People in Ulster and Putnam counties are not eligible for individual FEMA assistance, though their governments are eligible for FEMA aid to fix infrastructure damaged during Ida.

A Maloney spokesperson said Thursday the overall damage was not severe enough for Ulster and Putnam residents to qualify for the individual aid. Orange County residents affected by Ida were originally not offered direct FEMA relief, but appeals to reverse the decision by Maloney and others were successful.

All mid-Hudson residents though could be eligible to receive state assistance from a $2 million fund created by Gov. Kathy Hochul to help homeowners, and they are invited to apply.