Frustration has now turned to anger for many Hurricane Sandy victims after living in limbo for more than six months, and they say the slow response and inaction by the Obama administration is taking its toll.
Some New Jersey hurricane victims are complaining that FEMA is doing more harm than Superstorm Sandy did when it hit over four months ago and washed away their homes and businesses. FEMA issued Advisory Base Flood Elevation Maps as a provision of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, which was signed by President Barack Obama last July.
More than seven years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans, federal grant funds marked for a nature center in the city have yet to be spent, leading federal watchdogs to recommend the revocation of some of those funds.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed an additional $50.5 billion for Hurricane Sandy disaster relief appropriations on Tuesday, as reported by Bloomberg.
Six weeks after Sandy hit the New Jersey and New York coast residents are still struggling and are in desperate need of shelter. Many hard-hit victims are not getting help despite President Barack Obama’s pledge of the full support of the federal government, and they are dealing with red tape that the president said would not be tolerated.
Dozens of residents are still living without heat, hot water, or electricity in condemned structures flooded by both sea and sewer water in the Gerritsen Beach community of Brooklyn after a request to FEMA for temporary housing after Hurricane Sandy was denied.
Life is approaching a new normal for many in New York and New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy slammed into the northeast two weeks ago. Lingering destruction, however, means it may take months to rebuild.
“It’s been the worst nightmare possible,” said Vinny Accetta, a Staten Island resident from the flooded Midland Beach area. He, his wife, Devon, and their toddler twins are staying with relatives seven miles from their home. Eight days after Hurricane Sandy, Accetta is still waiting for FEMA to come and assess the damage to his home. After the hurricane, he was given a case number by FEMA. Now he waits in the cold.
The death toll from Hurricane Sandy continued to climb in New York as more bodies were recovered in Staten Island over the weekend amid complaints that the federal government and emergency agencies are doing little or nothing to help storm victims. Some residents are even saying they are the “forgotten borough” of New York City.
Gov. Bobby Jindal says the state of Louisiana requested a preemptive disaster declaration, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says is still pending.
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