Keansburg Amusement Park is very much still a work in progress. A day before its grand reopening, the quirky park, with its road carnival aesthetic and crooked midway, is still wearing the plywood-bandaged wounds of its near destruction at the hands of Hurricane Sandy. On Saturday afternoon, public and park officials will meet to shake hands and signal the reopening of the park in this downtrodden seaside town. Some rides are open. More will be soon. The game and concession stalls mostly remain gutted and a restaurant, its picnic tables still adorned with last season's salt and pepper shakers…

There are two weeks left for survivors of Superstorm Sandy who suffered damage to their homes to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The deadline is midnight, May 1, according to FEMA officials. This is also the deadline for residents to return applications to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for low-interest disaster loans. Residents can register for FEMA assistance online at DisasterAssistance.gov, or via smart phone or tablet at m.fema.gov. They also can call 800-621-3362 or TTY 800-462-7585, and those who use 711-Relay or Video Relay Services can call 800-…

Residents impacted by Superstorm Sandy now have until May 1 to register for individual disaster assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), according to a prepared statement from the governor's office.  The deadline extension also applies for homeowner, renter, and business registration with the Small Business Administration (SBA) for Disaster Loan Assistance. Businesses applying for SBA Economic Injury loans still have until July 31 to apply. The loans are for businesses that did not suffer any physical damage, but lost revenue in Sandy's aftermath. State and federal …

The impetus behind releasing its advisory flood maps soon after Hurricane Sandy was simply to aid in the state's disaster recovery, a Federal Emergency Management Agency risk analyst said Friday, noting that they still remain subject to change prior to their official adoption into the National Flood Insurance Program. Discussion about the NFIP as well as the Advisory Base Flood Elevation maps was made during a FEMA conference call late Friday morning and seemed to conflict with Gov. Chris Christie's hurried effort to see the maps adopted as New Jersey's new standard.  Doug Bellomo, director …

An action plan that outlines how New Jersey will spend $1.8 billion in Hurricane Sandy relief aid was submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for review Thursday. The aid will be used for Community Development Block Grants, which are designed to help homeowners, renters, business owners and communities still rebuilding following the late October storm. According to a release, the Action Plan focuses primarily on the nine counties most affected by the storm, including Monmouth, Ocean, Cape May, and Atlantic Counties. The grant funding is expected to assist …

The Christie administration has taken another step toward supporting new statewide elevation standards based on Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps. On Monday, the administration filed with the Office of Administrative Law an adoption package supporting the standards. The action comes nearly a week after Christie predicted FEMA will scale back tough new flood maps it issued last December.   Those maps place a large amount of properties in flood zones, and require many structures to be elevated if their owners don't want to see flood insurance rates spike. The initial FEMA flood …

Gov. Chris Christie predicted the Federal Emergency Management Agency will scale back tough new flood maps it issued last December, according to news reports. Those maps place many more properties in flood zones, requiring many of them to be elevated if their owners don't want to see flood insurance rates soar, according to reports. The initial FEMA flood maps, which could create thousands more in insurance premiums and have residents raising their houses feet off the ground, are "too aggressive," said Gov. Christie at Thursday's town hall meeting. He was addressing a packed crowd of …

Hope comes in all shapes and sizes and in Union Beach it came in the form of an artificial Christmas tree pulled from Hurricane Sandy's carnage. Former Union Beach resident Jim Butler set up the tree under the blanket of night and placed a handwritten sign next to it that read, "Dear Sandy, You can't wash away hope. You only watered it so more hope can grow. Signed, 'Union' Beach." On Saturday, March 9, the Union Beach Hope Tree was given permanent roots when two local families, the Hornig's and the Mezzina's, donated a living tree.  The community came together to dig, plant and mulch the new…

The New Jersey Department of Human Services was awarded grant funding to help replenish food supplies used during Hurricane Sandy to feed low income, elderly residents, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ, and Robert Menendez, D-NJ, announced Tuesday. The $75,000 grant will be used to provide county Area Agencies on Aging with funds to replenish the supply of shelf-stable meals used during the storm to feed victims, a release from the senators' office said. "This funding is another example of the federal government stepping up to take care of New Jersey in the wake of Superstorm Sandy," …

With winter weather still moving through the region, NJ Transit has extended full systemwide cross-honoring through the end of the service day Friday, March 8, enabling NJ Transit customers to use their ticket or pass on an alternate travel mode—rail, bus or light rail, as well as private carrier buses.  NJ Transit continues to monitor the storm and take steps to minimize delays and ensure service reliability and safety.  All customers are strongly advised to check njtransit.com before traveling for up-to-the-minute service information before starting their trip. High winds reported …

New Jersey’s recovery following Hurricane Sandy will come, officials and legislators at Tuesday’s budget introduction at the Statehouse in Trenton said, just don’t expect the state to pay for it. In Gov. Chris Christie’s proposed $32.9 billion budget, only about $40 million has been set aside for Sandy-related recovery, all of it coming in the form of supplemental aid. Its intended use will only be as a stopgap during the process of the state’s securing aid for various recovery efforts. The negligible sum will have little impact on the state’s budget, according to New Jersey Treasurer Andrew …

Sometimes, a hot meal can mean everything. No one knows this better than the volunteers of Everybody's Kitchen, a kitchen on wheels that travels around the country providing hot meals to those who need it most. Recently, the loosely-organized group has been providing meals to Hurricane Sandy victims. According to volunteer Anne Mackell, the bus made stops in Sandy-ravaged towns soon after the storm hit and has come back again three months later to address a persistent need.  The completely volunteer-sustained Everybody's Kitchen, developed in the early 1990's, has spend the last two decades …

Towns all along New Jersey's coast were devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Boardwalks were pulled back into the sea by surging waves, homes were knocked off of their foundations and residents left homeless. Despite the disaster, there's still hope. In Union Beach Saturday, and estimated crowd of about 1,000 people walked through the Sandy-ravaged town to show their support for recovery and each other. With little notice about the event other than a posting online, word of mouth spread throughout the week, resulting in a large and somewhat unexpected turnout. Many of those walking count themselves…

When David Scott Ruddy was arrested in Woodbridge for allegedly flimflamming Hurricane Sandy victims out of $50,000 in FEMA funds, there was one person who not only knew who he was, but had been calling and warning officials about him for months. That was Kathleen Marchitto, who met Ruddy first at a shelter put up at an Old Bridge school, and then later when she and other hurricane victims were moved to the Red Cross shelter set up at Livingston College of Rutgers University in Piscataway. Marchitto, whose South River apartment was flooded during the October hurricane, was at the Livingston …

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is providing free advice on how to repair or rebuild your Hurricane Sandy-damaged home at several home improvement stores throughout the area. With an eye on rebuilding to mitigate future disaster damage, FEMA experts will be on hand to offer building techniques that can help protect homes, businesses and other properties.  Among the topics advice is being offered on are: •             Ridding a home of mold and mildew. •             Understanding flood- and wind-resistant building methods. •             Knowing the benefits of flood insurance…

Randall Kidd’s story isn’t unique. A Union Beach resident, he’s faithfully paid into the National Flood Insurance Program for years, insuring his home against the kind of flood damage caused by Hurricane Sandy with a $217,000 policy he hoped would make him whole. After his home was destroyed by the late October storm, Kidd set about filling out the appropriate paperwork, meeting with adjusters who came in from out of state and waiting for the check to arrive so he could start to work. Finally, the check did come, but for $89,000, less than half of what contractors have told him it will cost …

An executive order signed by Gov. Chris Christie Friday aims to put key review and reporting initiatives in place to ensure that distribution of Hurricane Sandy relief funds is done in an accountable and transparent matter. The order, No. 125, directs the Office of the State Comptroller to conduct an independent, legal review of the procurement process for state contracts using federal reconstruction aid, according to a release. Each of the state's departments dealing with the distribution of federal aid will designate an "Accountability Officer" to work with the Comptroller's Office and the …

The State's Treasury Department's Division of Taxation has organized a number of tax assistance outreach events throughout February and March in towns affected by Hurricane Sandy, Gov. Chris Christie's office announced Thursday.  The events, scheduled during the height of tax season, are being held in towns that suffered heavy damage during Sandy as well as adjacent municipalities. The events will be located at libraries or other public buildings. The events are scattered throughout Monmouth, Ocean and Bergen Counties. The tax assistance events are free and residents can register online by …

Gov. Chris Christie is adamant about his decision to adopt the Federal Emergency Management’s (FEMA) advisory flood maps. And while that decision will have a significant, and costly, impact on many of New Jersey’s shore towns, it’s a necessary step to ensure their survival, he said. Speaking at a mobile cabinet meeting in Union Beach nearly two weeks after announcing his decision to rebuild using the advisory flood maps as a guide, Christie said it was a difficult choice, but one he had to make. Even amidst opposition as shore towns and residents voice their objections to the maps and their …

The Community Foundation of New Jersey recently announced a funding resource aimed at supporting the needs of the state’s communities and non-profit organizations leading in recovery following Hurricane Sandy. Called the New Jersey Recovery Fund, the foundation and its more than $5 million in pledged support from national and regional organizations recently revealed the fund’s application guidelines and its focus on aiding forward-thinking groups and communities throughout the state. The fund focuses on five areas, according to NJ News Commons, a Montclair State University communication …