I heard FEMA is useless at Drum Pt

Anything starting with "I have heard" is suspect.

fema kick my parents out , sent them to a shelter

Fema screwup Katrina, and they will surely be just as useless now. Good luck asking them for help! You might as well talking to black hole!

We face a long road back - but the journey is already begun. I see signs everywhere I've looked that we have already beaten this...communities joining together, helping one another. There has been much frustration - and, rightfully so. It's hard to understand the dynamics of the efforts so far - the reasons why certain areas were addressed sooner than others. Little has been left to chance, and none of the work done has been random.

People in towns everywhere have donated food, water, clothing, and, as importantly, time. The need will gradually diminish...but we can't let up. The cold weather is coming. There are many homes that will not be ready for months. Compassion for your neighbors is, and will continue to be, wholly necessary.

Work together - check on one another. Watch each other's backs. There is little time left before winter - and much to be done.

Before the typical troll commentary begins - by "already beaten this", I mean EXACTLY THAT. We know what must be done, and it IS being done. IT is what happens from the neck up from now on that will determine how effective our efforts to rebuild our communities will be. You can curl up in a ball and sob, and wait for FEMA and the rest of the world to step in, or you can step up and make a difference yourself. Don't know what to do to help? Walk down to your firehouse - a church in your neighborhood - your community center.

If you are still in a situation where you have no heat and no power - button up your home and make for a shelter. Thousands are out there making sure the facilities are there for you. Don't be foolish and try to "tough it out". More harm will be done by hypothermia than by any other killer in this storm.

We will return to normal - some sooner than others. Be aware that MANY are a long way from "okay".

(why patch feels the need to approve comments out of order is beyond me)

* Part One - written during the eye of the storm...loaded from my Suburban, using the inverter and wireless.

So still, this morning, as I write this. My children are all accounted for. Annie and her roommates sheltered in place at Rowan, Jamie and hers at Rutgers. Oldest daughter, Kate, and her husband, Elio, survived without much hassel - they may even still have power. Sean and Meg are asleep on the floor in the living room, "camping out". He's such a good big brother.

Mary has finally fallen asleep, and so I lie here, knowingly using some of my last remaining battery power until I recharge with the inverter in the Suburban, "penning" these few lines, and trying to look ahead.

Many of our friends came through unscathed, but at least as many have suffered catastrophic, even total, losses - homes damaged and destroyed. In our recorded history, the Jersey Shore where I grew up, the towns I love, will never really be the same.

The best parts of our memories stay with us - and the worst. The mind is funny that way.
I remember an old friend speaking of the storm of 193=, and how the ocean and bay met, with water a foot high in the home he loved. He's gone, now, but the home remained - and, I hope I find out this week, still does.

Part Two - from the eye of the storm....

Much criticism will come out of this week's clean-up. I hope that, when it is offered, there is a respect for those who are enduring and will endure the long-term aftereffects of this colossal storm. I hope that, for at least a week, the campaigning can be put on the back burner, and that we as neighbors can put aside our differences and help one another.

A few weeks from now, for most of us, the power will be on, the leaves will have been hauled away, and the debris. It will be an easy thing to put this storm behind us. For many, however, it's not the financial loss that they will face that is most daunting - in fact, for most, it will be an insured loss.

You can rebuild a house, but it is much harder to rebuild a home. How our attitudes shape the next few weeks will dictate the real toll of this storm.

Ask your township officials what you can do to help. For the most part, you may be told "We have it covered". Be thankful for that. Help where you can, especially for those of your neighbors less able than yourself.

Work together - clear the wrack, and rebuild.

I registered with FEMA easily via phone and got a response offering hotel shelter and help in transportation to hotel if needed. Though I have never had to deal with them until now....I am pleased with their response so far. Will inspect my home within 10 days (I am told).

Shame on all of you for spreading fear and despair. There is enough to go around already without making people even more anxious and hopeless.
I agree with the folks who say, reach out and ask for help - and dont stop. In the meantime, reach out and help your neighbors and work together to do what you can for each other as well as other neighbors until more help arrives. This is an unprecendented situation and no one source (agencies or organizations outthere designed to help in disasters) can do it all to help everyone, immediately and speciifically. A lot of people are hurting and suffering. Shame on some of you. And the others - God bless and hang in there. Stay focused, stay active, take care of others and give.

We have families in our thoughts and prayers . May you all have the strength and courage to get through these difficult times
JP HareElectric 732-237-4978

I just got denied form FEMA. Reason? I have insurance. Because I don't own my home right out. DENIED. DENIED. Reason: I carry insurance. Who is giving me the minimum coverage. My lower level, finished and with a renter who is now displaced in a hotel, all my furniture, Flood insurance does not cover contents of a LL nor does it cover any refinishing costs to bring it back to where it was- just mechanicals. I was denied even temporary relocation money. Because Homeowners suppostedly covers it. But they don't actually, I wasn't given it. SO you see everyone, until you ACTUALLY KNOW, you cannot speculate.

FEMA denied me because I had insurance. Who won't be out here for at least 5 weeks they tell me. However my friend's house that they own outright, who got flooded, FEMA will pay for contents lost, relocation and 90% of rebuilding.

to that not above, she get's covered BECAUSE SHE DID NOT INSURE HER HOUSE.

My friend just got a lot of help at Drum Point. There just as frasseled with people upset and angry. It's not their fault. Their here to help us not hurt us.

omg people,come together. work today, every person victim or helpers are human, the system is not exact....i have found that, if you make enough phone calls and advocate for your self or loved ones, something will work. Rome was not built in a day, nor will this tragety. time time time,. I Am a victim and a professional volunteer. Focus,keep positive, and don't give up trying.

last year during irena FEMA did reimburse me for some flood damage as i didnt have flood insurance. now that I have it they wont cover it unless you can prove they turned you down on a claim. The system isnt perfect and Fema isnt there to get paid back 100% of everything. its there for partial help. Im hoping they reimburse me for the hotel i had to stay in during sandy. i have an application submitted. I am awatiing a reply.

Joiseymom,
You still don't get it. I know FEMA is for people who are desperate. That is why the idiot politicians and people like you should make everyone aware that certain people shouldn't waste their time, or the time of the people administering the FEMA program, by filing a claim.
Does it make sense for tens of thousands of people who own 2nd homes to clog up the FEMA system by filing a claim, and then making calls to ask why they get nothing? Of course not.

FEMA is like welfare. It is to provide basic necessities to people who are stranded, and really need help.

What don't you get? My issue is with the useless politicians who can't provide basic information. It is NOT with people that need FEMA reliief. Get it now?

I'm glad to hear you pay taxes. Congratulations!

I'M A RESIDENT ON FARRAGUT DR. IN SHORE ACRES AREA. ON SUNDAY THE BRICK DRAGON FOOTBALL TEAM AND OTHER HIGH SCHOOL KIDS CAME TO MY BLOCK AND HELPED ANYONE WHO NEEDED IT. I AM SO PROUD OF THESE YOUNG PEOPLE I DON'T KNOW HOW TO PUT IT WORDS. THANK YOU ALL.

FEMA is to help if your home is destroyed. Not if a tree is down or your roof shingles blew off ( that's homeowners insurance). Most homes really in bad shape were along the coast..live near the water..expect floods ( need flood insurance). Also I think and know 50% of those homes along the shore where shut down ( summer homes)..yes they got damage and entitle for help..but its not like people were living in all those homes and needed help!

The shore to me is walking distance to the ocean..other then that to me your not a home owner at the shore.

TomT - many, MANY homes on the islands are two-family top-&-bottom structures - and the occupants are retirees who use the income from the rental unit earned during the summer, REPORTED ON SCHEDULE E - (you don't issue "yourself" a W2 <wages> statement, you "declare" rental income and expenses on Schedule E) - to cover the huge property assessments. There are many homes that are built where little bungalows were for decades before - the land/asset owned by the same families for generations.

Often, these "are" second homes because they are "shared" by multiple heirs - again, used for rental at times to offset tax costs. Otherwise, they may still be considered "first homes" if the owner lived there at least 183 days or more per year.

There was a huge flurry of speculative construction, capitalizing on greatly increased demand and rental income potential, converting many of these smaller bungalows. (I said "often", not "always", so no hair-splitting) in the late '80s through the '90s and into the 2000's. Some even opted for top and bottom "condominiums". Towns received the benefit of the higher ratables.

It is very rare that I have run across an applicant who did not correctly represent their rental earnings on their tax bill, because, without doing so, you cannot use that income to offset expenses when calculating ability to carry debt - in other words, to reduce the rate on the mortgage taken out to do the conversion in the first place.

Part two - I have seen many such applications in the recent past, because rates have fallen so low...but with the losses on the islands in Irene and Sandy, few lenders are willing to stick their necks out on those properties - insured or not. The navigation of the application process for those homes is not for the faint of heart - especially now that the "short-cuts" of the Stated Income/Stated Asset and Stated Income/Verified Asset and other limited documentation products have evaporated.

How investors and insurers will handle this Spring's market, when the homes are sufficiently repaired to be appraised, remains to be seen.

I will be running for Congress again in two years - I am curious to see how the person who defeated me does in addressing the economy, social security, the lack of a budget due to 4 years of grid-lock, and the housing crisis - let alone the long-term effects of this storm and whatever may next come.

I hope, for all of us, he does a most excellent job. Forgive me if I have my doubts as to his abilities. We shall see.

Meanwhile, I'm back to what I do...

Fixing the economy one household at a time - Frederick John " FIXMYLOAN" LaVergne... http://www.ml-implode.com for insider news and advice.

First of all FEMA has no money, it is OUR money! PLus, why is FEMA paying for private homes? FEMA is supposed to pay to get the infrastructure up and running, not private home repairs and replacements.

Private insurance is what should be covering homes, if you don't have private insurance you are out of luck.

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