opens in a new window opens in a new windowTen years on, Sandy survivors slam storm recovery process | NJ Spotlight News | October 6, 2022

opens in a new windowBRENDA FLANAGAN, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT 

They urge lawmakers to support ending effort to claw back some aid

“The system is not fixed. It’s by far not fixed,” Jody Stewart told lawmakers at a joint Assembly committee hearing Thursday on storm preparedness and post-storm assistance. Stewart and other Superstorm Sandy survivors spoke about what happened after their homes were flooded 10 years ago — how they lost everything and had to negotiate through a bureaucratic minefield to get desperately needed aid to recover and rebuild. But regulators now want to claw back some of that money, claiming it was an overpayment by the government.

Joe Mangino said the state mishandled payments it made to his contractor. He told lawmakers, “You could end my nightmare right now. We have a bill waiting to be posted that deals with clawbacks that would grant clawback forgiveness to Sandy families. We just need it to move. You could make the tenth anniversary for me a dream.”