Hurricane Sandy

$15 Million in Aid Grants for Shore Communities

The funding will be used to pay back portions of expenditures incurred as a result of Hurricane Sandy.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded more than $15 million in federal Public Assistance grants for shore communities impacted by Hurricane Sandy in a latest round of funding, according to a release from Gov. Chris Christie's office. The aid will be used to reimburse municipalities and counties for costs incurred in the aftermath of the late-October storm, whether that be for rescue efforts, cleanup, or reconstruction. The more than $15 million in grant funding has been awarded to Seaside Heights, Point Pleasant Beach, Monmouth County, Middlesex County, and Woodbridge Township.  Monmouth County will receive federal funding to reimburse the Sheriff's Department, which supplied security at shelters following Sandy and performed…

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Hurricane Sandy

FEMA, SBA Deadlines Extended Again

The deadline extension is May 1, and it applies for homeowner, renter and business registration with SBA

Residents impacted by Superstorm Sandy now have until May 1 to register for individual disaster assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), according to a prepared statement from the governor's office.  The deadline extension also applies for homeowner, renter, and business registration with the Small Business Administration (SBA) for Disaster Loan Assistance. Businesses applying for SBA Economic Injury loans still have until July 31 to apply. The loans are for businesses that did not suffer any physical damage, but lost revenue in Sandy's aftermath. State and federal offiicials have urged all residents and businesses affected by the storm, whether it was through flooding, wind damage or loss of business  revenue, …

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Christie Administration Supports FEMA Standards

The action comes nearly a week after the governor predicted FEMA will scale back tough new flood maps it issued last December

The Christie administration has taken another step toward supporting new statewide elevation standards based on Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps. On Monday, the administration filed with the Office of Administrative Law an adoption package supporting the standards. The action comes nearly a week after Christie predicted FEMA will scale back tough new flood maps it issued last December. Those maps place a large amount of properties in flood zones, and require many structures to be elevated if their owners don't want to see flood insurance rates spike. The initial FEMA flood maps, which could create thousands more in insurance premiums and have residents raising their houses feet off the ground, are "too aggressive," said Gov…

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Hurricane Sandy

Woodbridge Flood Victim Fights Back with Website

Monique Coleman isn't just sitting around in her Heidelberg Avenue home, waiting for the flood waters to rise again

In January, Monique Coleman went to a Woodbridge council meeting to ask for help with continual flooding issues in her Heidelberg Avenue neighborhood that reached a crescendo after Hurricane Sandy. Not much came from asking for tax relief, home buyouts, and the creation of a flood advisory board, nor from presenting a petition to the council, and few township residents learned anything new after a FEMA meeting in January, four months after the hurricane. Coleman took matters into her own hands and started a website, Life in the Woodbridge Flood Zone (otherwise known as woodbridgefloodzone.com) to chronicle what life is like on Heidelberg Avenue. The site isn't just for that section off Rahway Avenue; anyone who lives in a flood zone in …

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Hurricane Sandy

Sandy-Devastated Homeowners in Woodbridge Got Small Comfort from FEMA Meeting

Residents in sections of the township who experienced major losses and destruction from October's hurricane found little to allay their frustration at the first local meeting on the destruction.

Maybe it's becaue it's been so long since Hurricane Sandy, or maybe it was just the frustration of dealing with monolithic federal bureaucracies. Woodbridge homeowners who have been suffering since last October's gigantic hurricane had little good to say about a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) meeting held on Monday. It was the first public meeting held for township residents to deal with the effects of Hurricane Sandy since it devastated parts of Woodbridge four months ago. "[It was a] total waste of time. Nothing was presented that I didn't find out on my own 3 months ago," posted Debbie Wherrity Smith on Woodbridge Patch's Facebook page. "No new info! And no one could answer any of our questions!" declared Christina O'Leary…

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Hurricane Sandy

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 …

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Hurricane Sandy

FEMA Offers Rebuilding and Repair Advice

The ongoing workshops are being held in several home improvement stores throughout the area.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is providing free advice on how to repair or rebuild your Hurricane Sandy-damaged home at several home improvement stores throughout the area. With an eye on rebuilding to mitigate future disaster damage, FEMA experts will be on hand to offer building techniques that can help protect homes, businesses and other properties.  Among the topics advice is being offered on are: •             Ridding a home of mold and mildew. •             Understanding flood- and wind-resistant building methods. •             Knowing the benefits of flood insurance. •             Elevating or anchoring utilities. Sepecialists are on hand today, Thursday, and Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 16 from 8:30 a.m…

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Hurricane Sandy

SBA Loans Following Sandy Exceed $1 Billion

The administration has made 16,800 loans since the hurricane hit New Jersey.

In just three months since Hurricane Sandy struck the East Coast, the U.S. Small Business Administration has approved more than $1.1 billion in disaster loans to residents and business owners affected by the storm. According to a release from the SBA, approximately 16,700 individuals have received loans, making Sandy the country's third largest disaster in terms of loaned dollars. Currently, Sandy sits behind 2005's Hurricane Katrina and its $10.8 billion in SBA loans, and 1994's Northridge, Calif., earthquake, which totaled $4 billion in loans. Sandy, however, could supplant those disaster totals in the long run. The SBA also announced recent emergency legislation in Congress that adds $799 million to the administration's disaster …

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NJ's Sandy Assistance Reaches Nearly $800M

New Jersey residents affected by Sandy have until March 1 to register for disaster assistance.

Editor's Note: The following is a press release from FEMA While New Jersey survivors of Hurricane Sandy have until March 1 to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for disaster assistance, more than $780 million in disaster assistance has been approved to speed recovery. FEMA has approved more than $300 million in housing assistance for more than 52,000 people. Housing assistance includes temporary rental assistance and grants to repair and replace storm-damaged primary residences. More than $42 million has been approved to help survivors replace hurricane-damaged personal property and to help meet medical, dental, funeral, transportation and other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance or other federal, …

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Hurricane Sandy

FEMA, SBA Extends Sandy Aid Deadline

The State has appealed for more time, based on the need of its residents.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the US Small Business Association (SBA) have extended the deadline for victims of Hurricane Sandy to apply for aid. It is now March 1.   The deadline was extended one month at the request of FEMA and the state of New Jersey, said spokesman Mark Jamison of the SBA's Office of Disaster Assistance. "We encourage people to apply," said Jamison, whose agency is offering signature-only loans under $14,000 to homeowners and renters. "SBA loans are not based on a person's current financial situation," he said. For amounts above that threshold, he said, "There are no costs associated with the loan, except for title insurance when that's required as a condition of collatoral." Interest rates are as …

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