The Long Road Home: A Look Back At Superstorm Sandy 5 Years Later

by Patricia A. Miller

OCEAN COUNTY, NJ - For many New Jersey residents, Superstorm Sandy is just an unpleasant memory.

But for anyone who fled from the monster storm, lost a home, possessions and a way of life, it's still a nightmare.

"The experiences reported in this survey show that the Sandy recovery process is far from over for many New Jersey families," according to a report by the New Jersey Research Project.

The NJRP drew its conclusions from a survey of 500 New Jersey families. The survey began in October of 2016 and ended in early 2017.

The news wasn't good.

Here's some of the findings:

* Nearly a quarter of survey respondents - 22 percent - are still not home five years after Oct. 29, 2012.

* Half of the respondents reported damage of over $150,000 or more, but only seven percent of insurance companies came through with enough money.

Krista Sperber of Belmar found that out the hard way. She had the maximum amount of flood insurance on her two-story home. Her house's foundation mortar nearly dissolved after being under five feet of floodwaters for a week. She needed to replace the foundation, but her insurance company was only going to come through with 10 percent of the cost. So she took them to court and eventually won.

But the three-year quest to return home took its toll. Five years later, she suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome and worries about another storm hitting the New Jersey coast.

“They say they look into the problems, but they knowingly do nothing to fix it," she said in the survey. "I did nothing wrong. I had savings and a steady income. I should not have almost lost my home due to the failures of the current flood insurance program."

* Sixty-seven precent said they did not have enough money to finish rebuilding and had to use a combination of Small Business Association loans, their savings and credit cards to get home.

* A whopping 32 percent said they have fallen behind on their mortgage payments.

* Fifty percent reported problems with contractors.

* More than 70 percent of the respondents said they had developed new physical or mental health problems, or a worsening of pre-existing health conditions since Sandy.

Stress affected Brick resident's health

Tricia McAvoy was one of them. Her home was badly damaged by Sandy. A close family friend died soon after. Her husband died of lung cancer the following year. Her flood insurance claim was bungled.

The floorboards of her home buckled in late 2013. She was awarded $5,000 for repairs, not enough to fix the floors. FEMA denied her claim because it wasn't submitted with 60 days of the initial discovery of new damage.

McAvoy was in decent health before Sandy. But she had two strokes after Sandy - linked to massive amounts of stress - and now takes 11 medications each day. She's been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression all related to the attempting to rebuild her home and losing loved ones.

“My spirit and family kept me going, but my body began to give out under the daily pressures of living in grief, new economic hardship and my displacement from my home," she said.

She credits Medicare coverage with keeping her alive. She still has not been able to return home.

"I don’t know what the future holds," she said. "The system failed me and today I still live at my father's home."

* Clawbacks presented a problem for many homeowners once the work one their homes was completed. They occur when the state asks homeowners for money back after the work has been completed, because it was deemed unnecessary or was a "duplication of benefits." Many do not have the money to back the money back.

Clawback a shock to Lacey woman

Even though the township determined that Denise Vaccaro's Lacey home was substantially damaged, she only received $29,000 in flood insurance. Contractors gave her estimates ranging from $64,000 to $69,000 just for repairs. That didn't even include the cost of elevation.

Denise was eventually accepted into the state's Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation Program (RREM) grant program, but she was told her home was a total loss and she would have to rebuild. It took her two and a half years.

She described dealing with RREM’s legal requirements and the paperwork process as “mentally and emotionally exhausting.”

When she finally got her certificate of occupancy and was able to go home, she thought she was finished. But FEMA first hit her with a "clawback" for $1,034. RREM followed shortly after with a $14,174 clawback. She was not given an explanation for the clawback or instructions on how to appeal.

"I did everything by the books, so this clawback is a complete shock to me," she said in her survey response. I’ve been recently laid off, and I don’t have $14,000 to give back to the RREM program.”

She's now working with a nonprofit that is helping her to try and get her clawback reduced or eliminated.

Homeowners were often told by housing advisors that the Increased Cost of Compensation (ICC) funds from insurance companies and Small Business Association loans would not be considered a duplication of benefits. But they later found out that was inaccurate, the survey states.

Of the nine counties affected by Sandy, Ocean County had the highest concentration of damage at 35 percent. Monmouth County was second with 16 percent, followed by Atlantic County at 12 percent.

And the flood damage wasn't just confined to the oceanfront. The back bay and lagoon communities were also severely affected.

"The images of flooding from these areas are often less dramatic than waves crashing against houses, or roller coasters in the sea, and thus often overlooked," the report states

Recovery funding was slow to come by for many. New Jersey launched several Sandy grant programs on May 24, 2013. The RREM program provided grants of up to $150,000 for eligible homeowners of primary homes. Resettlement grants of $10,000 were given to homeowners for non-construction purposes with the understanding they would stay in one of the nine affected counties for three years.

By October 2014, two years after Sandy, only $179,823263 of RREM funds had been awarded. Only 113 homes had been completed and $467,595,680 in RREM funds hadn't been distributed, the survey found.

"For families and communities, survey results show that the experience on the ground of the roll-out of these programs was jumbled, confusing, and difficult to navigate," the survey states.

A "lonely" trip through RREM

Nancy and Tony Caira of Waretown tried to gut and rewire their Sandy-damaged home before they moved back in. They applied for the RREM program, but it took two years before they were taken off a waitlist and approved for the grant.

It was during their second meeting with their RREM project manager they were told the house sat on property now considered wetlands.

Five years later, the couple is still trying to raise enough money to rebuild.

“It’s been lonely and long," Nancy said. "There has been no direction on how to navigate the RREM program and there was absolutely no coordination of services.We didn’t know who to trust or listen to - everyone was telling us different things.”

Many in the RREM program also wrestled with contractor problems. Some thought that because their contracts had been approved, the state Department of Community Affairs had evaluated the work to make sure it meant all requirements.

But the contracts were approved as long as the contractor had a valid license. And there was no substantive review of the contract. Many contractors took advantage of that by requesting hefty initial deposits, demanding money before work was completed or doing work not in the scope of the rebuilding plans.

Looking towards the future

The report has a number of recommendations. They include:

* Recognizing the effects of sea level rise. The report faults New Jersey for its "piecemeal" approach to storm mitigation and prevention and failure to prepare for rising seas.

* FEMA needs to produce more accurate flood maps.

* Flood insurance programs must be made more affordable.

* Add buyout options for individual homeowners.

* Expand the RREM program and extending funding for post-storm counseling.

"Despite its vulnerability, New Jersey ranks near the bottom of states in preparing for sea level rise and future storms, according to "States at Risk: America's Preparedness Report Card," the survey states.

To read the full NJRP report, click here.

Photos: Patricia A. Miller