Sandy Survivors Face New Repayment Rules; FEMA Changes Questioned

Sandy Survivors Face New Repayment Rules; FEMA Changes Questioned / The Sandpaper / June 11, 2025

By Gina Scala

Sen. Andy Kim has his focus on the Trump administration’s retooling of the Federal Emergency Management Agency during hurricane season and a shift from national emergency response to a state and local level, even as some New Jersey storm survivors still struggle to recover from Superstorm Sandy over a decade ago.

“As a Superstorm Sandy survivor, 13 years after losing our homes, I feel like survivors are being yet again victimized with the new clawback recoupment policy,” Ocean County resident Diana Quaranta said. “Sandy survivors had to endure a myriad of confusing, erroneous and inconsistent information regarding REEM programs, grants and other recovery programs as we attempted to rebuild our homes and our lives.”

Her comments come on the heels of Gov. Phil Murphy setting a 36-month repayment deadline, leaving the clock ticking on 1,700 Sandy survivors who are required to pay back nearly $70 million in funds used for essential repairs following the October 2012 storm that decimated the Jersey Shore.

“Now, we feel betrayed again by the new clawbacks policy. Although a few have benefited from yet another ‘new’ policy, the majority of Sandy survivors are still victims of unfair, inconsistent policies of a broken disaster storm recovery system,” Quaranta said. “For Sandy survivors already living on the edge – retirees, the disabled, working families – this isn’t just a financial burden; it is a cruel betrayal. Gov. Murphy, why did you change the clawback policy again?”

The New Jersey Organizing Project said Murphy’s decision reverses a previous policy that indefinitely froze repayment requirements for survivors with clawbacks. Limited forgiveness is available for some survivors thanks to Congressman Frank Pallone, the group said.

Some families remain eligible for full clawback if they meet a certain criterion, while qualifying low- and moderate-income storm survivors will receive relief if their clawback is under $27,000. The relief will help less than a third of Sandy survivors struggling with clawbacks, according to NJOP.

“Whether it was Gov. Chris Christie or Gov. Phil Murphy, the leaders of our state have continued to let storm survivors down, so our next governor is going to start with a mess to clean up,” said Jody Stewart, a Little Egg Harbor resident and member of NJOP. “For New Jersey’s storm survivors to get the full and fair recovery we deserve moving forward, our next governor will need to learn what it takes by talking to groups on the ground like us.”

In the meantime, Kim continues to push back against the Trump administration.

“We’re seeing reports that the acting FEMA director was unaware there’s a hurricane season. I’ve also seen reports that the hurricane plan wasn’t completed prior to the start of the hurricane season,” Kim said during a June 5 hearing for Robert Law, the nominee to be undersecretary for strategy, policy and plans for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Law said he was unfamiliar with those reports.

“… What I can tell you is that from my understanding as senior counselor to the secretary is that they are taking a very critical look at FEMA because it has failed to operate as it should,” he said, adding later, “I think the president and the secretary (Kristi Noem, head of DHS) have been abundantly clear that FEMA in its current form is not working.”

Kim, a ranking member of subcommittees on homeland security and disaster management, which oversees FEMA, continues to call for bipartisan reforms to FEMA that would ensure New Jerseyans and people across the country have confidence in the agency’s leadership, can rely on the agency as a lifeline and always have a place to go when disaster strikes.

“I think there’s always been a role for state and locals to be a lead when it comes to natural disasters and FEMA plays an important supporting role, but FEMA has failed to deliver,” Law said. “It’s my understanding that there are still outstanding claims going all the way back to Hurricane Katrina.”

While Kim acknowledges reforms to FEMA need to be made and that problems do exist, he doesn’t believe the current administration is addressing response planning and preparedness for natural and manmade disasters as critically as it should.