Hurricane Sandy

Woodbridge Homeowners in Sandy-Devastated Areas Just Can't Catch a Break

If it's not the requirements you rebuild your flooded home to 13 feet over grade, then it's the tax increases you get on the improvements that's bleeding Woodbridge residents dry.

Homeowners in Woodbridge Township who live in flood-prone areas had a lot to say about the cost of being hit by both FEMA, flood insurance increases, and hurricanes, and it's not pretty. Residents of the perpetually waterlogged Watson Avenue in Woodbridge Proper vented on Woodbridge Patch's Facebook page, after reading a story that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has increased the Advisory Base Flood Elevations - the height from grade from which devastated homes can be rebuilt - from 9 feet, before Hurricane Sandy, to the current 13 feet.  For these homeowners, it's another disaster. "We are having so much trouble with our insurance just for repairs, that I have no idea how will we pay to raise our foundation now," said Debbie …

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Hurricane Sandy

The Cost of Rebuilding After Hurricane Sandy

Homeowners in Woodbridge's flood-prone areas are going to have an unpleasant surprise when they see the cost of flood insurance with FEMA's newly update flood zones.

The effects of Hurricane Sandy on parts of Woodbridge are readily evident. Just take a drive in the Watson Avenue section of the township. Months after the hurricane struck, homes are still unoccupied. You can see which ones by the bright orange stickers on the doors, labeling them unsafe for occupancy. You can see the gaping holes where solid foundations once stood. What the future of the area will be after Hurricane Sandy, though, is still being pieced together. Two things are for certain: homes that have to be demolished will be rebuilt in a far different way then they originally were constructed, and homeowners who resist will pay a fortune in flood insurance premiums, if they can rebuld at all. The Federal Emergency Management Agency…

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Charles Kenny, Kyle Anderson to Head Council

The two councilmen were chose to serve as president and vice president of the body at Tuesday night's reorganization meeting.

The votes were in Tuesday night at the Woodbridge Council reorganization meeting, and it was unanimous.  Councilman Charles Kenny was picked to be president for 2013, and Councilman Kyle Anderson was chosen to serve as the governing body's vice president. Kenny will replace outgoing Council President Gregg Ficarra. The counci meeting was packed with Boy Scouts and nominees for various positions filled by the council and Mayor John McCormac, who also stopped by the reorganization session. By far, though, the citizens who showed up for the reorganization weren't there for the festivities. They were there to express their concern about the aftereffects of Hurricane Sandy, more than two months after the superstorm's tidal surge wrecked their …

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