The city's hurricane recovery program, Build It Back, has left a Queens family in limbo. They were told to move out of their home 14 months ago, but little work has been done, and no one can say when it will be completed. NY1 Queens Reporter Ruschell Boone has the story.

Susan Lombardo has no idea when she can return home. She and her family moved out two summers ago so a contractor hired by the city's Build It Back program could elevate it to protect it from future flooding.

14 months later, the project is far from done.

Lombardo: They raised the house and put it on these wooden blocks. That's all that happened for the first ten months, and then we didn't see anybody again until just two weeks ago; they came and removed the foundation.

Boone: Isn't that a good sign?

Lombardo: It's a good sign, but I haven't seen anybody since.   

After the home was damaged by Hurricane Sandy, Lombardo and her husband paid for repairs. But then they learned their flood insurance premiums would soar unless they elevated the house, a project costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"We needed to lift the house because of problems with our insurance," Lombardo said. "We needed to obtain a certificate of elevation, so we went to the Build It Back program for help."

NY1 first met Lombardo and her family in January of 2013, three months after Sandy hit the city. They were living in a 28-foot camper while the house was being repaired.

"My wife and I sleep in here. The table turns into a bed, believe it or not. That's where my youngest son sleeps, but we'll have to clear everything off it first, and my oldest son sleeps on the futon," Lombardo's husband said back then, showing how the family lived inside the camper.

In June, NY1 reported how cost overruns and delays plague many Build It Back projects. But Lombardo's wait of 14 months and counting stands out as especially long.

A city official blames some of the delay on contractors discovering pilings under the house that had to be removed. Lombardo doesn't buy it.

"It's been a year and two months and I haven't seen much work at all," she said.

After we began asking questions, Build It Back said, "We have identified a pathway forward ...and work is proceeding to provide a safe and resilient home as soon as possible."

What the statement didn't say is when the family can expect to return home.