Many still out of their homes three years after storm
In the gleaming marble plaza of War Memorial Park in Trenton, where a bronze statue of Victory leans toward the Statehouse, another memorial went up Tuesday to woefully mark the third anniversary of Hurricane Sandy.
This one was made of wood slats and boards from a few houses wrecked by the storm that made landfall at the Jersey Shore Oct. 29, 2012. On the display were pictures and paper baggage tags that spoke of all else that was lost.
The first frame of the makeshift memorial was headlined:
What did you lose during Super Storm Sandy?
One unsigned tag said this:
Home and family photos
Way of life
Life savings
Job
Marriage
Hope
Faith in gov't
And that pretty much tells the story of the few thousand people still left homeless by the storm.
To bring attention to the fact that so many people remain out of their primary homes, several grassroots groups organized a three-day camp-out at the park. By mid-day Tuesday about a dozen members of the New Jersey Organizing Project were there with back packs and sleeping bags, prepared to hunker down for what would be a breezy, chilly afternoon, a cold night, and expected high winds and heavy rains Wednesday.
"We're prepared for the worst," said Amanda Devecka-Rinear, executive director of the group, which formed around the continued plight of Sandy victims. "After what most of these people have been through, I don't think they're worried about a little (bad) weather."
Every person there had a Sandy horror story.
And a Sandy-recovery horror story.
Some had to do with FEMA. Some had to do with insurance companies. Some had to do with the state Reconstruction, Rehabilitation Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) program. Some had to do with all three.
The latest RREM statistics say construction is complete on about 2,000 of the 8,000 homes in the program, meaning 6,000 remain under construction -- or that construction hasn't begun.
Nancy Wirtz is still out of her house in the Forked River Beach section of Lacey Township. Her tag on the memorial wall said, "lost home, lost belongings, lost security, lost peace, lost safety, lost hope, lost children feeling safe. She got a $14,000 insurance settlement for a destroyed home last assessed at $140,000. Then she lost half of her $150,000 state grant to raise the house when a contractor took a $75,000 down payment, tore down the house, then disappeared. That was 13 months ago.
"Nothing's changed. Nothing's happened since," she said while bundled up against the cold.
Joe Karcz' home in Beach Haven West is almost done, but a worker fell off a ladder on Monday while putting up the siding and broke his arm. It was just the latest in a series of mishaps and mistarts during the last three years that have forced Karcz to move 13 times.
The union pipe-fitter fired his state-approved contractor when he was underwhelmed by the company's knowledge of heating and air conditioning systems. Then it took four months to get the permits to knock the house down. When demolition began, asbestos was discovered. That cost him $2,000 to remove.
"When we finally got everything right, it came down in one day," he said. "I hope to be in by Christmas. But I'm not counting on it."
Chuck Griffin's state-approved contractor just got arrested.
"I gave him one-third ($50,000) of my RREM grant in January," said Griffin, whose house in Mystic Island was swamped by 40-inches of bay water. "He kept making excuses ... the weather was too cold ... he'd start in June. June came and nothing. Then it was September."
The contractor wasn't arrested for taking Griffin's money.
"He screwed somebody else, too," Griffin said.
Sally Gellert of Woodcliff, who wore a pin that said "If You're Not Outraged, You're Not Paying Attention," was not impacted by Sandy but is working with the Bergen County Long Term Recovery Group, which is helping storm victims in Moonachie and Little Ferry.
She said many of the Moonachie victims live in two mobile home parks and mold continues to be a problem.
"They feel powerless. They feel no one is listening," she said.
For Miguel and Delores Duran, the storm surge from the Passaic River left them in a ghost town in the Ironbound section of Newark, where 25 of the 30 homes on Joseph and Ester Streets remain vacant.
"It was a toxic flood because of the (nearby) paint factory," Miguel said. Their son, Miguel, Jr., now has severe asthma and continual rashes. Miguel, Sr., said he, too, has lingering effects of insomnia and depression.
"I'm on medications and my kids get scared every time it rains," he said. "It's bad. It was the worst night of our lives."
Bud and Sue Kenneally's house in Keansburg is in foreclosure as they struggled to pay their mortgage and $2429 a month in rent for the three years since the Raritan Bay welled up and flooded their section of town.
Devecka-Rinear said the group simply wants to bring attention to the ongoing misery the storm caused and get lawmakers to help ease it now - and avoid it in the future.
"We want to stop foreclosures on Sandy victims who have been hurt by insurance fraud and problems in the state programs," said Devecka-Rinear. "We extended rental assistance for people who are still out of their homes. We want to see laws strengthened to hold bad contractors accountable.
"And, of course, we'd like to see the dunes get built and the infrastructure improved so it doesn't happen again."
Mark Di Ionno may be reached at mdiionno@starledger.com. Follow The Star-Ledger on Twitter @StarLedger and find us on Facebook.