Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Employees who suffered losses during Hurricane Sandy have one week to register with FEMA for assistance.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is encouraging business owners to remind their Hurricane Sandy-impacted employees to register for disaster assistance before the application deadline expires in just one week. In terms of individual assistance, FEMA is and has provided grants to cover rental assistance, home repairs and replacement of essential household items not covered by insurance. Assistance grants may also be available to help replace personal property destroyed during the storm and to help meet medical, dental, funeral, transportation, and other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance or other funding sources. But Sandy victims need to apply with FEMA by May 1 if they hope to qualify. The push to see Sandy …
FEMA willing to share data, township readying contract with oceanographic engineer
Brick Township's long-discussed appeal of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's advisory flood maps got a double shot in the arm this week. A conference call with representatives from FEMA and U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez's office on Tuesday yielded a piece of the puzzle township officials have long sought: access to FEMA's mapping software and its data. "What is in our control is the challenge," township resident Ron Jampel, who started the Save Our Communities 2013 group, told Brick council members a week ago. "We've got thousands and thousands of people wanting that answer. There's no more important matter than this for the people who have been displaced." The data from FEMA, township officials have said, is central to being able to …
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 …
Still no bid awarded for Private Property Debris Removal program
Brick officials have not yet awarded a contract for a firm to handle its Private Property Debris Removal program since the state has put extra requirements on the township due to the potential size of its bid. Brick will be one of the largest municipalities to participate in the program, which will award a township-wide contract to demolish destroyed homes and clear debris from private property left by Superstorm Sandy. The program, sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is subject to a plethora of restrictions, and requires on-site visits by FEMA personnel to ensure each property qualifies. Under the program, the township will foot the bill for its residents' properties to be cleared, then be reimbursed 75 percent by FEMA …
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Demolitions to begin April 22, officials say
The Mantoloking Borough council on Monday awarded a $1.6 million contract to a Tinton Falls-based company to perform a large-scale demolition project in town. Council President Steve Gillingham said the contract was awarded to Mazza & Sons Demolition, the lowest bidder out of more than 30 submitted. The contract left room for the borough to retroactively award the bid to the second-highest bidder if the company is unable to carry out the job, which will include the demolition of about 40 homes borough-wide. Mantoloking will be the first municipality in the state to carry out the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Private Property Debris Removal, or PPDR, program. "It's a substantial amount of money, but we've documented everything we …
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 …
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Township will solicit qualifications from national firms
The Brick Township council voted unanimously late Tuesday night to authorize township professionals to draw up a bid specification that will allow for the early appeal of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's flood maps. The request for qualifications, or RFQ, will a hydrology study and wave action modeling that will be used to oppose FEMA's advisory base flood elevation maps, which have placed thousands of Brick Township residents into flood zones, and 4,000 in 'V,' or velocity, zones. With the de-subsidization of federal flood insurance passed last year by Congress, residents in flood zones whose houses are not raised could pay as much as $30,000 a year for flood insurance, which is required by mortgage companies. Those in 'V' zones …
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 …
butch cassidy
1:01 pm on Thursday, April 25, 2013
unless you are a sandy victim and have gone thru the fema process..then you know how bad it is! more ›