 David McCue stands near the roof of his beach house, which was completely demolished by Superstorm Sandy, in Ortley Beach, New Jersey, on Sunday, November 25. See photos of the immediate aftermath of Sandy.  Utility workers replace a pole Sunday that was damaged by Superstorm Sandy in Seaside Heights, New Jersey.  Old photographs are laid out to dry on a car hood on Sunday after being removed from a home in Seaside Heights.  Rena McCain cleans out the first floor of her home in Seaside Heights on Sunday.  Little remains of this home in Union Beach, New Jersey, on Tuesday, November 20, after Superstorm Sandy devastated the area.  Wilma Marrero and son Joseph Kendall wait in line about five hours Tuesday for food and other items from a Coney Island distribution point in Brooklyn, New York.  Volunteers on Tuesday remove flooring from a Keansburg, New Jersey, home damaged by the storm.  People walk along a beach in the heavily damaged Rockaway neighborhood in the Queens borough of New York on Friday, November 16.  Amy Neukom works to remove sand from her parents' house in Mantoloking, New Jersey, on Friday -- a result of Superstorm Sandy.  Residents wait for free food in a parking lot in Rockaway on Friday.  President Barack Obama embraces a local resident on Cedar Grove Avenue during a visit to Staten Island on Thursday, November 15.  People receive free sandwiches from a mobile food distribution center in the Rockaway neighborhood of Queens, New York, on Thursday.  Residents take free clothing Thursday at the Ocean Bay Action Center in Queens.  A tattered U.S. flag flies over the storm-damaged boardwalk in the Rockaway section of Queens on Thursday.  Lisa Baney walks back toward her family's home in Bay Head, New Jersey, after taking a photo of a neighbor's destroyed house Wednesday, November 14.  A living room is filled with sand Wednesday washed in by Superstorm Sandy in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey. Two weeks after the storm hit, many residents of the seaside town remain without power.  People wait in line to receive free food from the American Red Cross on Wednesday in the heavily damaged Rockaway neighborhood of Queens, New York. Thousands are still without power and heat.  People walk past a destroyed miniature golf attraction Wednesday in Point Pleasant, New Jersey.  Heavy equipment operator Bill Unger carries photos he salvaged from a mass dump of household possessions on Tuesday in the Midland Beach area of the Staten Island. Unger said he's been collecting the photos as he cleans and taking them to his daughter, who is posting them on Facebook for neighborhood residents to find and later collect.  People wait in line to collect some of the 1,500 donated coats from New York Cares on Tuesday in Queens. The charity started its annual coat drive early this year to assist those affected by Superstorm Sandy. It hopes to collect 200,000 coats this winter.  A woman walks past debris on Rockaway Beach on Tuesday.  A New York police officer jumps over a large crack in a boardwalk in Brooklyn on Wednesday, November 14. The boardwalk was damaged by the storm surge from Hurricane Sandy.  Insurance claims adjusters walk past burned-out houses Wednesday in the Breezy Point section of Queens, New York. A fire that broke out in the neighborhood during the storm destroyed more than 100 homes.  A family friend of a drowning victim of Superstorm Sandy looks through household debris in New York on Tuesday, November 13.  A man looks through the home of a drowning victim Tuesday.  Children wait to board buses to temporary schools in the Rockaway Beach neighborhood of Queens, New York, on Tuesday. The Rockaways peninsula was hit especially hard when Sandy barreled into the East Coast on October 29, unleashing a record storm surge that flooded low-lying areas and fierce winds that toppled trees and power lines.  A home damaged by Sandy is seen in Union Beach, New Jersey, on Monday, November 12.  A resident of Breezy Point in Queens walks past houses destroyed by fire during Sandy on Monday.  Shoes are set out to dry Monday on the steps of a house in an area that was completely flooded on the south side of Staten Island in New York City.  Dale Freeman stands in his water-damaged apartment in a public housing building that still doesn't have power on Monday in Brooklyn. About 58,000 customers in the Rockaways, Long Island and Brooklyn require more extensive repairs before electricity can be restored.  Residents who returned to their damaged homes line up for a hot meal served from a Red Cross vehicle on Samson Avenue in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, on Monday.  A home damaged by Sandy lists in Mantoloking, New Jersey, on Monday.  One room has power Monday in Rockaway, where many areas are still without electricity. "If you don't have your power back, it probably means power can't be restored to your home at this time," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday afternoon.  Debris strewen by Superstorm Sandy sits piled outside a damaged home in Mantoloking, New Jersey, on Monday.  People line up to receive donated items from Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens at Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Brooklyn on Monday.  People gather for donated food beneath a spotlight in an area still without power on Monday in Rockaway.  Roofers repair damage Monday on a home in the Annadale neighborhood of Staten Island.  An SUV sits atop the debris from a home in Mantoloking, New Jersey, on Monday.  A woman makes her way past trash piles in Lower Manhattan on Monday.  A man looks through donated clothes and supplies at nightfall Monday in Rockaway.                                        
New York (CNN) -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg found himself facing questions Thursday about why the city was paying for more than 100 vacant hotel rooms when thousands were displaced after Superstorm Sandy. The rooms were reserved for storm victims who were pushed out of their homes by Sandy, which hit the area October 29. According to Bloomberg's office, a total of 1,014 people were housed in 416 rooms, while another 120 rooms designated as emergency housing were vacant. "We've gone out and we've gotten housing for people in case they might need it, but the wonderful thing is we haven't needed it so far," Bloomberg said Thursday. "We have hotel rooms in advance, particularly now because as you get toward the holiday season the hotel occupancy goes up, and if we need it -- and I hope we don't -- we're going to have those," he added. That's a surprise to Nicole Near, whose whose apartment in the Queens neighborhood of Far Rockaway hasn't had heat or power since the storm hit. "I would go to the hotel," Near told CNN on Thursday. "It's freezing in my apartment. I got to wear four pairs of socks every day." Yisroel Shulman, president of the New York Legal Assistance Group, said scores of families are staying in cold, dark homes because they are concerned about looting or they don't want to pull their children from school. "We believe strongly the minute that first snow hits, and it's really cold, these people are going to need housing," Shulman said. "It's a very prudent move on apart of the city to have as much temporary housing as possible." The city says canvassers have knocked on more than 12,600 doors to tell people that housing assistance is available for those who still lack heat, and they leave flyers on the doors of units where no one answers. Residents are being told about restoration centers where they can be connected with hotels if their heat is still out. Sandy victims outraged over business-as-usual power bills Near said she had not been contacted about the available hotel rooms. She has been staying with her mother in a crowded Brooklyn apartment while she awaits repairs to her apartment, where she said the walls are caving in and mold is growing on the walls. She said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has given her $1,700 and that the city took over responsibility for the housing complex she lived in because the landlord abandoned it. "That's why I am so mad," she said. "We still don't have lights. It's crazy." Bloomberg's office said the city expects FEMA to reimburse it for the hotel rooms. FEMA spokesman Dan Watson told CNN that the agency would consider that, provided the city could provide some justification for the costs. As of Wednesday, 473,785 households in New York and New Jersey had applied for disaster relief assistance with FEMA. While not all of the families were requesting housing assistance, officials said they continue to work with state and local officials to help all victims of the deadly storm. Meanwhile, the agency started exploring the possibility of housing some displaced residents on boats, posting a request for information in hopes of finding rapid, cost-effective housing options on small vessels. Opinion: Let's not forget superstorm victims FEMA said the purpose of the request was for market research only and to explore whether the maritime industry could offer viable options for residents who remain homeless. Officials said the vessels they requested ideally would sleep two to six adults, either as stand-alone boats or interconnected to create a single dwelling made of multiple units. The request for information specifically said the agency isn't looking for cruise ships as a solution to the crisis caused by the colossal storm that pounded the Northeast last month. FEMA faced criticism from residents and politicians for its decision to house first responders and emergency personnel on cruise ships docked in New Orleans and other cities after Hurricane Katrina. Sandy slammed ashore near Atlantic City, New Jersey after forming in the Caribbean and sweeping northward, killing a total of 182 people from Haiti to Canada. It caused widespread flooding and damage and destroyed or damaged more than 30,000 homes and businesses in New Jersey alone, state officials said. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said the latest estimates of Sandy-related storm costs in his state were $36.8 billion, while New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters earlier this week the total cost in his state was $41 billion.   |
11/29/2012
FEMA mulls boats for Sandy victims
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