FEMA extends flood insurance filing deadline by 6 months

FEMA extends flood insurance filing deadline by 6 months (via NJ.com)

Homeowners filing flood insurance claims from damage caused by Hurricane Sandy now have more time to submit paperwork supporting their cases. The Federal Emergency Management Agency — which oversees the National Flood Insurance Program — is extending…

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Sandy elevation program backlog will ease by end of summer, top NJ official says

Sandy elevation program backlog will ease by end of summer, top NJ official says (via NJ.com)

New Jersey’s top environmental official said today he expected a backlog of applications for a Hurricane Sandy elevation program to be cleared by the end of the summer. Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin said roughly 2,…

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RAINE Foundation passes the flag to Kyrillos

RAINE Foundation volunteers in Union Beach, November 2012. Click for larger view.

During the first week of November, 2012 Tim Mills was alone working on cleaning up what remained of his Union Beach home.  He was making very little progress. His home was badly damaged and he felt there was no way possible for his family could return to the shambles or overcome the devastation. “I was in a very dark and desperate place emotionally that day, ” Mills recalled.

Mills noticed a group of at least 20 men and women walking down the street, approaching his home. He was scared, fearing they were looters coming to steal what little he had left.  One of the group pulled the family’s American flag from the muddy debris that used to be the front lawn.

“Who the hell are you?” Mills shouted at the group. “We are from RAINE. We here to help,” the team leader responded.  Mills stood in silence as the man, a U.S. Marine, who pulled his flag out of the mud draped it over the furniture that was drying out on his lawn.

“It was at that point that I didn’t feel alone or lost any more. I felt like somehow, we were going to be OK. That team saved my life that day.”

Mills donated his flag to RAINE (Reaching All In Need Everyday). Since then the volunteers that lead the non-profit have put the flag on tour as a symbol of leadership, perseverance and strength in the face of adversity.

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Obama Administration Looking To Divert Billions in Sandy Funds Away From New Jersey and New York

By Art Gallagher, [email protected]

The Obama Administration is considering holding a contest for areas impacted by disasters other than Superstorm Sandy.  The “winners” would get between $1 billion and $2 billion of the remaining $3.6 billion is Sandy relief dollars being doled out by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), according to a story first reported by the Wall Street Journal

The Record reports that New Jersey Congressmen Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson; Albio Sires, D-West New York; and Frank Pallone, D-Long Branch, and Sen. Bob Menendez are urging HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan not to divert federal aid to projects in other parts of the country.  Members of the New York Congressional Delegation are making similar pleas.

Bookerism of the Day

Where’s Senator Cory Booker?  He’s proselytizing on twitter. 

Sires told The Record that the entire New Jersey delegation could join together in opposition to a nationwide contest for the money.  That would be great!  Sires should lead the Democrats in the delegation in ending the partisanship that has been dominating the discourse over Sandy recovery and sign the letter to Donovan and Michael Boots, the Acting Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality that Congressman Chris Smith invited him, and all members of the delegation to sign requesting a meeting to hash out the multitude of issues New Jersey residents are having with the HUD relief process.

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Middletown Calls On Christie, Legislature To Allow Affordable Housing Funds To Assist Sandy Impacted Homeowners

Citing the shortage of federal and state funds available to assist Superstorm Sandy impacted homeowners in rebuilding their homes, the Middletown Township Committtee this week joined Marlboro Mayor Jonathan Hornik and Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon in calling on the state legislature and Governor Chris Christie to put the more than $100 million in Affordable Housing Funds that are sitting dormant to work.

With a unanimous 5-0 vote, the committee passed a resolution on Monday, April 21, calling for legislation that would reinstate Regional Contribution Agreements (RCAs) “for the limited purpose of getting victims of Superstorm Sandy back in their homes during this time of need.”

RCAs were created in the original 1985 Fair Housing Act whereby towns with funds raised from developer fees or through bonding could transfer up to half of those funds to another community for the purpose of building affordable housing as required by the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Mt. Laurel decision.

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Stronger than the storm?

New Jersey’s economy should be booming with reconstruction. It isn’t.

There should be hundreds of construction workers in Highlands, Union Beach, Sea Bright and other Sandy impacted communities every day.  They are not working and don’t look to be anytime soon.

Short changed by insurance companies/the National Flood Insurance Plan. Arduous applications for aid followed by red tape, bureaucratic incompetence and rules that halt rebuilding.  Expensive and time consuming zoning approvals to rebuild what was there before.  Pleas for help are answered with finger pointing between bureaucrats at different levels of government who are getting paid for their bullshit and going home every night.

“GO, GO, GO, REBUILD, you’ll get reimbursed,” we were told after the storm. We trusted our government. They lied.

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NJ Sandy planning moves forward on local level; experts say regional approach needed

NJ Sandy planning moves forward on local level; experts say regional approach needed (via NJ.com)

While trudging through the ongoing rebuilding from Hurricane Sandy, coastal communities pounded by the devastating storm are trying to form long-term strategies for addressing a wide-range of recovery needs with a finite amount of money. At the same…

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The Politics Of Disaster Relief

By Art Gallagher, [email protected]

When disaster hits, natural or man made, Americans put aside their differences and come together to handle the emergency.

We saw it with 9-11. Most recently in New Jersey we saw it with Superstorm Sandy.

Once the emergency is over and the federal money is flowing, the politics…partisanship and patronage starts.  We saw it with 9-11. We’re living it with Sandy.

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Christie Administration Asks FEMA To Give New Jersey Residents And Businesses A 6-Month Extension To File Flood Claims Related To Superstorm Sandy

photo by Art Gallagher

TRENTON –The Christie Administration today urged the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to grant New Jersey residents and businesses who suffered property damage or destruction in Superstorm Sandy an additional six-month extension to file a complete flood insurance claim, or proof of loss, in connection with the storm. The Administration is asking that the filing deadline be extended from April 28, 2014 to October 28, 2014.

“Superstorm Sandy was the worst natural disaster to strike New Jersey in a generation, and the process of rebuilding has been expensive and complicated. Homeowners and business owners simply need more time to file their final flood insurance claims,” said Governor Christie. “Many property owners have begun to rebuild only to find there was more damage than they originally thought. This extension would give New Jersey residents the vital extra time they need to successfully navigate the flood claims filing process and restore and rebuild their properties.”

A proof of loss is a form used by the policyholder to support the amount they are claiming under the policy, which must then be signed, sworn and submitted to the insurance company with proper supporting documentation. An extension of the filing deadline would give homeowners and business owners additional time to evaluate newly discovered damages and costs, obtain proper documentation, and submit detailed information in a supplemental proof of loss.

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Along Jersey Shore, towns build ‘sandcastle dunes’ as they wait for federal beach projects

Along Jersey Shore, towns build ‘sandcastle dunes’ as they wait for federal beach projects (via NJ.com)

The hills of sand are supposed to act as fortresses that protect Jersey Shore communities from the ravages of the sea. In the 18 months since Hurricane Sandy, coastline towns awaiting federal beach replenishment projects have dumped hundreds of thousands…

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