Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Township Council unanimously approves resolution for bill that would amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968
Sam Cammarato's upscale home at the end of Teakwood Drive in the Glen Cove section of Bayville was slammed hard by Superstorm Sandy last Oct. 29. And like too many others, Cammarato - who heads the Berkeley Township Taxpayers Coalition - is worried about raising his house and paying astronomical flood insurance premiums. "I am absolutely petrified I will not be able to continue to pay these outrageous flood insurance premiums everyone has been talking about," he said during the public portion of the April 22 Township Council meeting. Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. said he, Council President James J. Byrnes and Councilman John A. Bacchione met earlier this week with Congressman Jon Runyan to discuss a number of Sandy-related issues. One of them …
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Some vital records can be replaced with a simple phone call or by ordering online
While Jersey Shore residents continue the rebuilding process following Hurricane Sandy, replacing lost or damaged records is just another step in recovering. “While it can seem like a challenging task, the good news is that many vital records are relatively easy to replace,” a news release from FEMA says. Below is a list of places to obtain official copies of lost or damaged documents: Insurance: Contact your insurance agent for copies of your policies, recent billing records and cash-value statements. Financial Records: Contact your bank, credit union, credit card company, brokerage firm and credit bureau for copies of account statements, loan applications, credit reports and other records. Social Security Cards: Find the location of the …
Monday, April 15, 2013
FEMA video focuses on how one home survived while neighbors did not
Ed Wright's home is one of the few left standing. But before Hurricane Sandy, it was one of the few up on pilings on his street in Mantoloking. So many others were at ground level, and a recent FEMA video implies it was the foresight to raise the home years ago that helped Wright's home survive the storm. In a dramatically damaged area of Mantoloking, FEMA found one homeowner's house had survived, and produced a video about Wright's plans years ago to raise his house, and how it impacted the home during Hurricane Sandy. FEMA's video, titled "Elevation Helps a Home Survive Hurricane Sandy," features interviews with Wright and pictures before and after the storm.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Limited local options have resulted in people waiting or moving out of county to find secure housing.
Two weeks ago Tia Savoy had her first meltdown. Nearly six months of moving from place to place, calling family and friends looking for a place to sleep for a month, a week, a night, finding a bed for her daughter - she'd take a couch - had taken its toll. Her Seaside Heights apartment had been destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. As a renter she had few options immediately after the storm, the only certain one being to leave it all behind. She made calls that were not returned. She answered ads for new apartments, only to find that listed rents had magically gone up a few hundred dollars when she arrived in person. She was turned away when landlords found out she had a Section 8 voucher, making up excuses almost on the spot as to why they …
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 …
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Officials adopt ordinance approving advisory base flood elevation guidelines, 'under extreme protest'
It's no secret that township officials didn't like FEMA's advisory base flood elevation guidelines almost as soon as they were released in mid-December. But last night they unhappily adopted an ordinance officially adopting the new standards "under extreme protest," the ordinance states. The advisory base flood elevations (ABFEs) are already the law of the land, since Gov. Chris Christie issued an emergency order back in January. But it was necessary to adopt them in Berkeley to make it easier for residents whose homes were more than 50 percent damaged to qualify for Increased Cost of Compensation (ICC) grants, Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. said. "Some insurance companies are not recognizing the Governor's executive order," Amato said. "This …
butch cassidy
10:59 am on Friday, April 26, 2013
you know maybe because he is in the same position as others he will fight harder.. i dont know for sureabout him or his motives but i will take any help i can get more ›