A new reality television show plans to film on the Jersey Shore this spring but expect less “gym, tan, laundry” and more hammers, paint and sawdust. The series is a part of a project launched by Humanity TV’s TravelTelevision to focus attention on the ongoing Hurricane Sandy rebuilding effort in New Jersey and drive people to… Read the rest of this entry »

Of the nearly 75,000 flood-insurance claims that New Jersey homeowners filed in the aftermath of Sandy, FEMA says that the National Flood Insurance Program had paid 58,055 policyholders a total of $3.9 billion as of early last month. But 6,532 claims were rejected and closed without payment, and throughout the region, some 1,500 cases remain bogged… Read the rest of this entry »

UNION BEACH — Nine months ago Richard Drake opened a letter notifying him of a 55-fold increase in his flood insurance premium even though he and his wife, Sandra, raised their Union Beach home three feet above federal requirements. Since then, Drake feared the $33,000-a-year bill would force his family to walk away from the home… Read the rest of this entry »

The state this week launched two new Hurricane Sandy recovery programs for low- and moderate-income residents: one to help homeowners rebuild and another to provide rental assistance. Both of the programs started taking applications on Monday. The rebuilding program, which is funded with $40 million in federal disaster relief aid, is open to primary residents who… Read the rest of this entry »

TOMS RIVER — The state plans to spend most of the half billion dollars in Hurricane Sandy recovery funding allocated to New Jersey in the final round of aid from the federal government on affordable rental housing programs and grants for people who want to rebuild. But residents who spoke at a public hearing today in… Read the rest of this entry »

Katharine Koehler’s big idea began with a simple act of kindness. She brought coffee into Sandy-battered towns on the Raritan Bay for stunned homeowners and the volunteers helping them clean up and, in many cases, clean out. “I remember seeing heaps of people’s belongings – dressers, tables, chairs, all this furniture and household furnishings piled up… Read the rest of this entry »

TRENTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency should stop demanding that Hurricane Sandy victims pay back money they mistakenly received from the government, members of the New Jersey congressional delegation said in a letter released today. Both U.S. senators and 10 of the state’s 12 U.S. representatives signed a letter to FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate asking… Read the rest of this entry »

NEW YORK (AP) — When Superstorm Sandy left Denise Erickson’s home with a collapsed foundation, a loan from the Small Business Administration looked like the best deal in town. She got more than $150,000 from the SBA to help fix her family’s Bellmore home, but the loan has left her with a $651 monthly payment and… Read the rest of this entry »

Superstorm Sandy ripped houses from their foundations, reshaped the Jersey Shore and shuttered countless businesses in October 2012, but now researchers at Rutgers University tell of another devastating consequence: It increased the rate of heart attacks and stroke among people grappling with the disaster, leading to many additional deaths. In one of the first studies of… Read the rest of this entry »

Months of pressure from storm survivors and lawmakers in New Jersey and New York culminated Friday with the Federal Emergency Management Agency committing to reform key parts of the National Flood Insurance Program. The program covers more than five-and-a-half million policyholders across the country, and it’s been an important part of the Sandy recovery, paying out… Read the rest of this entry »