Monday, May 13, 2013
'Triple whammy' for Shore residents, Menendez says on U.S. Senate floor
U.S. Senator Bob Menendez threw Shore residents a virtual lifeline Thursday, delivering an address on the Senate floor where he urged colleagues to support an amendment to federal legislation that would stop flood insurance rate hikes, at least in the short term. Menendez (D-N.J.) spoke in favor of an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act which would stop flood insurance premiums from rising until FEMA completes its study on the affordability of premiums of the National Flood Insurance Program. Shore homeowners face annual flood insurance premiums of up to $31,000 a year if they do not raise their homes at a significant cost. Many homeowners who were never previously located in flood zones now find themselves being listed as …
Friday, April 26, 2013
At a recent Stop FEMA Now meeting, Bayville residents expressed frustration over the vague answers they've received about rebuilding.
Homes are still in disrepair following Hurricane Sandy and residents are wondering how best to rebuild. New proposed flood maps could force residents to pay tens of thousands of dollars a year in flood insurance but many still don’t know where their homes fall in the different zones. Homeowners are grappling with decisions like should they elevate or simply leave it all behind. Compounding every single one of these questions is the fact that it’s just too difficult to get a straight answer to satisfy any of them. Before a crowd of about 150 people at Berkeley Township Elementary School Thursday night, representatives from Stop FEMA Now, the grassroots organization opposed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s advisory flood maps, …
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Employees who suffered losses during Hurricane Sandy have one week to register with FEMA for assistance.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is encouraging business owners to remind their Hurricane Sandy-impacted employees to register for disaster assistance before the application deadline expires in just one week. In terms of individual assistance, FEMA is and has provided grants to cover rental assistance, home repairs and replacement of essential household items not covered by insurance. Assistance grants may also be available to help replace personal property destroyed during the storm and to help meet medical, dental, funeral, transportation, and other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance or other funding sources. But Sandy victims need to apply with FEMA by May 1 if they hope to qualify. The push to see Sandy …
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Set up to provide assistance in towns affected by Hurricane Sandy, the recovery centers are introducing new, reduced hours.
Disaster Recovery Centers opened in towns affected by Hurricane Sandy are subject to new, reduced hours of operation beginning Monday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced Thursday. On Monday, April 8, all of New Jersey's remaining disaster recovery centers will operate from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. Saturday hours will remain 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Previously, the centers were open an additional hour on weekdays. Now, six months following Sandy, nine disaster recovery centers remain open throughout the state, located in towns in Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic, Cape May, and Hudson Counties. There have been more than 85,000 visits to New Jersey centers since opening in early November, according to FEMA. Those …
The program has been extended several times following Hurricane Sandy.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Transitional Sheltering Assistance program has been extended to April 30, Gov. Chris Christie's Administration announced Thursday, for what is likely the last time following Hurricane Sandy. The purpose of the TSA program is to shelter residents who have lost their homes due to the late October storm. Those participating in the TSA program are being housed in hotels and motels throughout the state. As of Thursday, roughly 219 Sandy-displaced residents are housed through the TSA program. Over the course of the month FEMA, along with the State Departments of Community Affairs and Human Services will work at identifying and securing long-term housing solutions for those who remain in the …
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Are you an area business that is Jersey Strong and open for business? Tell us in the comments below the article!
The Jersey Shore is open for business. So promises a video produced by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) featuring several local businesses that have reopened following Hurricane Sandy. In brief vignettes spliced with images and slogans of the shore's recovery, business owners and employees from Sandy-impacted towns invite customers back to their businesses by letting them know that not only are they open, but that in spite of the late-October storm they remain "Jersey Strong." The Beachcomber in Seaside Heights, Bain's Hardware in Sea Bright, and Used to Be's in Mantoloking are just some of the businesses featured in the video, which ends with a clip of a recent Gov. Chris Christie speech praising New Jersey's residents for …
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Deadline extension 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, …
Friday, March 29, 2013
During a Friday conference call discussing the National Flood Insurance Program, talk shifted to FEMA's flood maps and the potential for change in New Jersey.
The impetus behind releasing its advisory flood maps soon after Hurricane Sandy was simply to aid in the state's disaster recovery, a Federal Emergency Management Agency risk analyst said Friday, noting that they still remain subject to change prior to their official adoption into the National Flood Insurance Program. Discussion about the NFIP as well as the Advisory Base Flood Elevation maps was made during a FEMA conference call late Friday morning and seemed to conflict with Gov. Chris Christie's hurried effort to see the maps adopted as New Jersey's new standard. Doug Bellomo, director of FEMA's Risk Analysis Division, said the agency used the best available scientific data to develop the maps, and while he's confident that they're …
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Elderly residents affected by Superstorm Sandy could find themselves victims of unscrupulous contractors and scam artists.
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Wednesday, March 13
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is advising seniors recovering from Superstorm Sandy to be on the lookout for scam artists claiming to represent FEMA, the Small Business Administration (SBA) or the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). By going door to door to storm-damaged homes or making contact by phone or on the Internet, scam artists may try to obtain personal information such as Social Security and bank account numbers or falsely claim that you need to make a payment to a federal agency. FEMA is offering residents a number of tips to ensure that they're not victims of a potential scam: On any follow-up calls, a FEMA representative will only ask for the last four digits of the applicant’s Social Security number. …
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
The grant will provide $75,000 to the New Jersey Department of Human Services.
- GOVERNMENT
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Tuesday, March 12
The New Jersey Department of Human Services was awarded grant funding to help replenish food supplies used during Hurricane Sandy to feed low income, elderly residents, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ, and Robert Menendez, D-NJ, announced Tuesday. The $75,000 grant will be used to provide county Area Agencies on Aging with funds to replenish the supply of shelf-stable meals used during the storm to feed victims, a release from the senators' office said. "This funding is another example of the federal government stepping up to take care of New Jersey in the wake of Superstorm Sandy," Lautenberg, a lead author of the Sandy relief legislation, said in a release. "Once Sandy struck, the State moved quickly to make sure the most vulnerable …
anthony esposito
3:41 pm on Sunday, May 19, 2013
If anyone gets a chance read this article. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/nyregion/rebuilding-the-coastline-but-at-what-cost.html?ref=nyregion more ›