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A Year After Sandy L.I. Home Remains Plagued By Mold

NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- It has been almost a year since Superstorm Sandy and fresh horror stories continue to emerge.

One homeowner thought that she had won the war on mold in her damaged home, but as CBS 2's John Slattery reported, she may be losing the battle.

Dylan Clay waded through a sea of clothing wearing a HazMat suit as she spoke with CBS 2's camera's on Thursday.

"You're gonna get sick staying in here without this mask. I'll tell you that right now," she said.

Clay, a former model, now working as a waitress owns a home on Atlantic Ave. in Freeport. She is battling mold for the second time.

"It's like a Hitchcock movie. It really is," she said.

She rode out the storm in her attic and turned to the Robin Hood Foundation and the All Hands Volunteers to help remediate her moldy basement.

Work at Clay's home and others was funded by the 12-12-12 concert but the mold kept coming back and Clay was forced to move out in March.

"And the spores went through the house. I kept smelling it upstairs and I lifted the sofa, black mold under there. Lift the china cabinet and black mold under there," she said.

Black Mold Plagues Long Island Home
Mold continues to be a problem in a Freeport home nearly a year after Sandy. (Credit CBS 2)

Clay received $20,000 from her insurance company and FEMA provided $1,800 for temporary housing. But, Clay said she needs her insurance company to declare a total loss and tear down the house.

As the one-year-anniversary of Sandy approaches Clay's home will not be occupied.

Sandy killed at least 117 people, 53 in New York, 34 in New Jersey, and 4 in Connecticut.

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