Tag: Sandy

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It’s Hurricane Season and Ridgewood Mayor Assures us the Village of Rdgewood is better prepared than with Sandy

Sandy theridgewoodblog.net

September 7,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, hurricanes are in season so we asked Ridgewood Mayor Susan Knudsen has the Village enhanced its hurricane response since hurricane Sandy ? During Sandy it seemed the only Village Hall response was to blame PSEG while Mount Carmel Church took on the brunt of the relief work and received little to no credit .

Hi James,
The Village is well organized and prepared for  the possibility of severe hurricane conditions. Upon confirmation of the hurricane path, our OEM team will meet and begin mobilizing all necessary resources  to ensure the safety and well-being of Village Residents. Protecting Ridgewood  residents remains paramount and deployed resources will support this primary objective.

Information will be disseminated utilizing an array of enhance communications and, as always, by asking fellow  residents to share information forward and to check in on the elderly and home-bound.

Ridgewood’s relationship with PSE&G has been significantly  strengthened over the past year as part of an important initiative to work collaboratively with the utility. However, Ridgewood acknowledges  PSE&G must prioritize efforts to restore power during widespread outages.

I have great  confidence in our Village Manager, Ridgewood Police, Fire, EMT’s, professionals  and dedicated staff to manage any weather event. 

Finally, the efforts, assistance, and generosity  of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and others, is always greatly appreciated. 

Best regards,
Susan

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NJ Transit shields probe’s findings; agency won’t say if Sandy program had fraud, waste

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BY CHRISTOPHER MAAG
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Independent investigators found problems with how NJ Transit runs a $100 million program to improve weather resilience after Superstorm Sandy, problems that could lead to waste, fraud and abuse, according to the state treasurer’s office.

But what those problems are — and how NJ Transit should fix them — remain unknown because the agency has declined to make the findings public, violating a state law intended to ensure transparency, say legislators.

“It certainly violates the law,” John Wisniewski, chairman of the Assembly’s transportation committee and a co-sponsor of the law, said when he learned of NJ Transit’s decision not to release the records. “It’s more than just wrong. It’s outrageous. You can’t help but wonder: What are they hiding?”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/nj-transit-shields-probe-s-findings-agency-won-t-say-if-sandy-program-had-fraud-waste-1.1511264

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Millions facing higher premium rates for flood insurance

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file photo by Boyd Loving

APRIL 12, 2015, 11:51 AM    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, APRIL 12, 2015, 11:56 AM
BY FRANK ELTMAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS

MINEOLA, N.Y.  — A $24 billion sea of red ink has millions of Americans in vulnerable flood zones, including homeowners still struggling to recover from Superstorm Sandy, facing steep increases in flood insurance premiums.

New legislation that went into effect this month — the second time in two years Congress has tweaked the troubled National Flood Insurance Program — allows rate increases of up to 18 percent.

“This appears to be death by a thousand cuts,'” said Scott Primiano, an Amityville, New York, insurance broker who has been holding seminars for clients to explain the new legislation. “The concept sounds good, but no one can say what the full risk is. … They are going to take it in bits and pieces every year and it keeps going until Congress determines we’ve had enough.”

Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesman Rafael Lemaitre said the flood insurance program has for decades been paying out more than it took in, with the United States as a whole totaling more than $260 billion in flood-related damages between 1980 and 2013. He said the new legislation is “intended to improve the long-term sustainability of the program while being sensitive to needs of policyholders.”

Lemaitre noted that a previous overhaul in 2012 had socked many policyholders with even higher rate hikes — as much as 25 percent annually.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/millions-facing-higher-premium-rates-for-flood-insurance-1.1307515

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MacArthur calls for FEMA administrator’s resignation

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MacArthur calls for FEMA administrator’s resignation

U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-3), the newest member of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, had some harsh words for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and its administrator, W. Craig Fugate, this afternoon.

The Republican wants an “immediate investigation” into the agency over allegations that it knew of fraudulent practices used to deny full insurance payouts to victims of Hurricane Sandy — as well as Fugate’s head. (Brush/PolitickerNJ)

MacArthur calls for FEMA administrator’s resignation | New Jersey News, Politics, Opinion, and Analysis

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Ridgewood reimbursed nearly $450,000 by FEMA for storm costs

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Ridgewood reimbursed nearly $450,000 by FEMA for storm costs

DECEMBER 7, 2014, 6:26 PM    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2014, 6:27 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD — The village recently received a pair of large checks from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, totaling nearly $450,000.

The checks reimburse Ridgewood for overtime costs and damage it sustained as a result of both Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy.

Calling the infusion of cash “excellent” news, Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld said another check would be sent to the village before the end of the year for $382,900.

Getting the reimbursements from the federal agency has not been easy.

Village officials — working with representatives from Sen. Bob Menendez’s office — have been meeting in recent months with state and federal officials to ensure the money was recouped.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-reimbursed-nearly-450-000-by-fema-for-storm-costs-1.1148183

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2 years after Sandy hit, some victims in Bergen County are still waiting for relief

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2 years after Sandy hit, some victims in Bergen County are still waiting for relief

OCTOBER 29, 2014    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2014, 7:29 AM
BY AARON MORRISON
STAFF WRITER | 
THE RECORD

Volunteer Jessica Martinez being trained by Mike Stimson of Habitat for Humanity at a Little Ferry home damaged by Superstorm Sandy.

Of all the money dispersed to homeowners and renters whose lives were upended by Superstorm Sandy two years ago today, not a penny of it has helped rid Donna Mojica of the mold that has festered around her water-damaged trailer home.

Sick of looking at the mold as it crept up the walls of her kitchen and bedroom, the Moonachie resident took a paintbrush to the white- and black-speckled spores.

The Mojicas aren’t confident they will ever receive the thousands of dollars needed for mold remediation, despite the assistance of a case manager helping them navigate various applications for aid grants.

So far, the family has received only about $600 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to replace an awning on the trailer and two months of rental assistance, a welcome reprieve that ends next month. Aside from the paint, nothing has been done about the Mojicas’ mold problem in two years.

“How long am I going to have to breathe this in before I get sick?” said Donna Mojica, who, along with her husband, Adam, reflects a weariness among some storm victims around the state who say aid programs have been inequitably administered and leave some feeling underserved after the worst weather-related disaster of its kind on record.

The storm, which began as the largest hurricane on record in the Atlantic Ocean and devastated the Caribbean, the East Coast and parts of Canada, made landfall as a powerful rain and wind event in New Jersey on Oct. 29, 2012. It killed 37 people statewide, including one person in Bergen County, where 5,000 people were evacuated from the low-lying towns of Little Ferry and Moonachie. Flooding caused by a 10-foot storm surge overwhelmed the nearby Meadowlands’ flood control systems, and municipal pump stations were inadequate to sweep water back into the Hackensack River.

Despite more than $1 billion allocated to victims in the form of relocation, rebuilding and other supplemental grant funds, according to the Christie administration, a new Monmouth University poll finds that less than a third of victims in the state feel recovery efforts have focused on them.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/2-years-of-frustration-1.1120653#sthash.1BzJpzEC.dpuf

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Downed trees kept millions without power in wake of Sandy, other extreme weather

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file photo Boyd Loving

Downed trees kept millions without power in wake of Sandy, other extreme weather.

The state is promising to get tougher with New Jersey’s four electric utilities over their tree-trimming practices, hoping to curtail the number of outages that occur in extreme storms when blown-down trees take out power lines.

After more than 100,000 trees fell on power lines during Hurricane Sandy, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is looking to adopt stricter standards on how utilities run what the agency calls vegetation management programs in their franchise territories. (Johnson/NJSpotlight)

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/14/04/01/state-taking-tougher-stance-on-tree-trimming-by-utilities/