VIDEO: FEMA Meeting in Woodbridge Was 'No Help at All'
Not everyone was satisfied by the first public meeting in Woodbridge to discuss the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, four months after the storm slammed the township.
Four months after Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of Woodbridge, people who are still struggling to get help with their hurricane-damaged homes didn't find much new at a meeting to discuss the storm damage.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) held a meeting last Thursday at Woodbridge High School that was well attended. Victims of the hurricane, though, said they found little new from the panel of experts who sympathized with their plight, but couldn't make the federal bureaucracy move any faster than it has.
Mayor John McCormac was also at the meeting, the first public gathering since the hurricane struck last October.
The mayor said the township was the first municipality to apply for aid, and that because there was so much destruction in Woodbridge from Hurricane Sandy, and previously from Hurricane Irene, the township might finally qualify for flood mitigation projects offered by the Army Corps of Engineers.
It was small comfort for some of the hurricane victims. "There's nothing new here, nothing," said one man whose home is still unlivable. "All talk, no action."
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MrsOLeary
11:17 am on Monday, February 25, 2013
I was also at this meeting with my husband. Absoutley nothing new was avaliable to us. All the info they gave us was info we knew back in December. We were told someone from the DEP would be there to speak to about the oil problem we have in our basement. NO ONE there was from that dept. We need answers about new rates & premiums, no one was available to speak on that matter. They just wanted to show us the new maps. I was able to view the new map in December. It was a complete waste of time. Even cost me money because I work 12 hours shifts and had to leave early. For what? For the Mayor to set up some BS meeting just to shut up his residents & so he can say he "did all the can"
cb
12:01 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013
My main problem is this: Taxpayer dollars are used for everything. Skate parks, lighting systems, etc, but when it comes to flood mitigation why are taxpayer dollars no good? We need to relay on the off chance of getting a FEMA grant to mitigate flooding in Woodbridge? We pay taxes the same as everyone else. It's not like we have discounted taxes. If we all walk away because they don't solve this issue, that's going to be a huge hole in the tax revenue.
I have spoken
1:46 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013
If your not a skate park, lighting, toxic park, putt putt golf....Mac is not interested. He's only interested in what's in your wallet.
LB
10:02 am on Tuesday, February 26, 2013
This is inexcusable! These people have lost most or all of what they've worked their entire lives for, and there is no help for them? What is wrong with Woodbridge Township, and our country, for that matter, when such injustice is permitted to occur?