After 100 Days, New Jersey Communities On Road To Recovery From Sandy

TRENTON, N.J. — One hundred days after Hurricane Sandy made landfall, storm survivors in New Jersey are rebuilding with a hand from neighbors, nearly 28,000 volunteers and more than $1 billion in state-federal response and recovery assistance.

Following Sandy’s landfall on Oct. 29, a dozen states deployed 440 personnel and equipment to support New Jersey and the more than 2,200 New Jersey National Guardsmen. It was the state’s largest domestic emergency mobilization.

Thirty-five federal agencies contributed more than 2,600 employees and took on 349 assignments at a cost of $169 million. They did everything from cleaning up hazardous fuels to providing bus transportation during the New Jersey transit system outages.

Survivors Repair Homes and Replace Property

To help those affected by Sandy, the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved more than 58,000 individuals and households for assistance totaling $352 million. Of that financial help, $308 million has gone to help repair homes or pay for a place to rent and $44 million to meet serious needs not covered by insurance or other federal, state and charitable aid programs. Another $26.4 million has provided temporary shelter to those still unable to return home.

FEMA coordinated a housing mission that included the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which used $3.3 million to refurbish 115 housing units at Fort Monmouth.

FEMA and the state also temporarily sheltered 5,538 individuals and families in hotels and motels through the Transitional Sheltering Assistance program that enables survivors to work on longer-term housing solutions.

Two hundred FEMA Corps members and team leaders conducted door-to-door outreach at more than 53,300 homes, providing information about disaster assistance to more than 51,800 survivors.

Low-interest SBA Disaster Loans Fill Recovery Gaps

Low-interest disaster loans from the Small Business Administration remain a critical source of money for rebuilding. SBA also provides working capital for small businesses to help alleviate economic losses. SBA has approved more than 5,600 disaster loans for homeowners, renters and businesses totaling $397.7 million.

Disaster recovery centers have offered one-on-one help to storm survivors. This personal approach helped people with their FEMA applications and SBA loans. More than 71,000 visits have already been made to the 34 centers that have served New Jersey.

At least 40 volunteer groups contributed 760,000 hours of their time during Hurricane Sandy’s response and recovery.

Help with rebuilding homes and infrastructure

To protect lives and property in future disasters, FEMA seized the opportunity to publish advisory base flood elevation maps to guide rebuilding (go to Region2Coastal.com).

FEMA’s Public Assistance program has approved $148.5 million to assist the recovery of state and local governments as well as certain nonprofits.

FEMA has approved 465 projects to help remove hurricane debris and restore disaster-damaged roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Among the largest grants was $11.2 million to the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission for emergency repairs to a wastewater treatment plant that serves 48 communities and treats 330 million gallons of sewage daily.

In the weeks after the storm hit, FEMA also hired 160 local residents in New Jersey to help with disaster recovery operations.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Follow FEMA online at www.fema.gov/blog, www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema.  Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema. 

The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.

SBA’s Disaster Assistance Program provides long term, low-interest loans to homeowners, renters and businesses of all sizes. For more information, visit www.sba.gov. All SBA’s program and services are provided on a nondiscriminatory basis.