$6 billion in Sandy assistance disbursed, FEMA says

Almost two years after Sandy left a path of destruction along the New Jersey coastline, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it has disbursed more than $6 billion in assistance.

FEMA officials say the agency has approved 99 percent of the projects where local governments are reimbursed for infrastructure repairs and 62 percent of the 1,300 grant applications for elevating residential properties.

And FEMA will remain in New Jersey for the long haul to make sure the state recovers adequately from Sandy, said MaryAnn Tierney, regional administrator.

“We’ll be there as long as it takes to help communities and the state spend the money that they’ve been provided — and also much more longer term mitigation projects through the hazard mitigation grant program to look at infrastructure and homes in terms of mitigation,” she said. “And that could also take some time to fully disperse that amount of money.”

Tierney is urging residents to be prepared for the potential of future disasters by building an emergency kit and developing plans to locate family members who could be scattered during an emergency.

More information on preparing for emergencies is available online by calling 1-800-BE-READY.