6 months after mega-storm Sandy slams into U.S. – thousands still homeless!!!

6 months after mega-storm Sandy slams into U.S. – thousands still homeless

Posted on April 29, 2013by The Extinction Protocol

April 29, 2013 – NEW JERSEY - Six months after Sandy ravaged the tri-state area, uprooting thousands of trees, decimating homes and submerging cities, many residents say life has mostly returned to normal, though for some, recovery from the deadly storm remains a painstaking process, and “life as normal” a far-away dream that may never be realized. Separation is the new reality for the Gatti family, a clan of several generations that shared the same three-story home near the ocean on Staten Island until Sandy destroyed it. The flood-soaked place was demolished months ago, and they’re waiting for a government buyout. Now the family is scattered across New Jersey, New York and Texas. Tens of thousands of people remain homeless. Housing, business, tourism and coastal protection all remain major issues with the summer vacation — and hurricane — seasons almost here again. “Some families and some lives have come back together quickly and well, and some people are up and running almost as if nothing ever happened, and for them it’s been fine,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said ahead of the six-month mark. “Some people are still very much in the midst of recovery. You still have people in hotel rooms, you still have people doubled up, you still have people fighting with insurance companies, and for them it’s been terrible and horrendous.” Lynda Fricchione’s flood-damaged home in the Ortley Beach section of Toms River, N.J., is gutted; the roof was fixed just last week. The family is still largely living out of cardboard boxes in an apartment. But waiting for a final decision from federal and state authorities over new flood maps that govern the price of flood insurance is tormenting her and many others. “The largest problem is, nobody really knows how high we’re going to have to elevate the house,” she said. “At town hall they told us 5 feet, but then they said it might go down to 3 feet in the summer. Most of us are waiting until the final maps come out. It’s wait-and-see.” By many measures, the recovery from Sandy, which struck Oct. 29, has been slow. From Maryland to New Hampshire, the National Hurricane Center attributes 72 deaths directly to Sandy and 87 others indirectly from causes such as hypothermia due to power outages, carbon monoxide poisoning and accidents during cleanup efforts, for a total of 159. The roller coaster that plunged off a pier in Seaside Heights, N.J., is still in the ocean, although demolition plans are finally moving forward. Scores of homes that were destroyed in nearby Mantoloking still look as they did the day after the storm — piles of rubble and kindling, with the occasional bathroom fixture or personal possession visible among the detritus. And more than a few residents whose homes were overtaken by mold or completely destroyed in the storm still cry as they drive down the barren streets that once held their valued memories as well as their most fervent hopes for the future. Throughout the region, many businesses are still shuttered, and an already-tight rental market has become even more so because of the destruction of thousands of units and the crush of displaced storm victims looking to rent the ones that survived. FEMA has paid out $387.4 million in housing grants and $263 million to communities and nonprofit groups in New Jersey since the storm hit. In New York, Cuomo’s administration worked with banks to release more than $200 million in insurance payments. But insurance companies have not paid out all that many homeowners expected. Municipalities are borrowing tens of millions of dollars to keep the lights on, the fire trucks running and the police stations staffed, waiting for reimbursement from the federal government for storm expenditures they had to fund out of pocket. –NBC NY [link to theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com]