Six years after Sandy, Jersey Shore recovery shows shortfalls in the system
Questions about the efficacy of the government?s recovery strategy in today?s new era of increased storm risk If you had asked Paul Smith Jr., mayor of Union Beach, New Jersey, if he thought he?d still be talking about Hurricane Sandy today, more than six and a half years after the storm made landfall, he would have said no.
But years after the storm pummeled New Jersey?s coastline, Sandy is part of the present, not the past, for many of the residents Smith represents. His small beach town on the state?s northern coast, just 6,649 people spread over an area under 2 square miles, spent roughly $6.3 million cleaning debris off the beach. Half of the city?s homeowners were affected by the storm, and so far, more than 350 homes have been rebuilt or raised. But there?s still work to be done. ?The state helped a lot, but some people did decide to walk away from their homes,? says Smith. ?That?s what we?re trying to figure out: what?s abandoned [and] where the empty spots are.?
Many New Jerseyans feel the same way. Since Sandy?s initial impact, which damaged 346,000 households up and down the coast, billions of dollars of state and federal money have been spent on repairing, readjusting, and making the state?s buildings more resilient.
But in conversations with a number of storm-impacted homeowners, and homeowners-turned-advocates, it?s clear there are big questions about the efficacy of the government?s strategy for helping communities recover from massive weather events...
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