{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397674", "Cong. Smith, Officials Mark Second Anniversary of Superstorm Sandy", "2014-10-29", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "On the two year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy\u2019s landfall in New Jersey, Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), who represents some of the hardest hit towns at the shore, toured several areas slammed by Superstorm Sandy to assess recovery efforts.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cTwo years ago\u00a0today, New Jersey rallied to help those in need after Superstorm Sandy unleashed devastation on our home state,\u201d said Smith, who toured every town in his district and beyond within hours after the Superstorm hit New Jersey. \u201cThe damage to the shore communities was immense on a scale not seen before: towns across the state were ravaged, homes destroyed, thousands displaced with many residents reeling from the aftermath.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Today Smith joined Howell Mayor Bill Gotto and Deputy Mayor Rob Nicastro at the Mariner\u2019s Cove community in Howell Township along the Manasquan River to see the sites of four demolished homes that were heavily damaged by Sandy and also Hurricane Irene in 2011, and sole remaining home slated for demolition. The homes were purchased by the township with state and federal funding. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith later joined Middletown Mayor Stephanie Murray and Deputy Mayor Anthony Fiore to tour the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers beach replenishment and restoration project on Ideal Beach in Middletown, and the still-damaged Bray Avenue Bridge on the Middletown-Port Monmouth border, and a Middletown home on Roop Avenue still in need of demolition. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As New Jersey was coping with and recovering from the most destructive storm ever in our region\u2014and perhaps the second or third most costly in all of American history\u2014Smith helped push through Congress a package of legislation which sent $60 billion to Sandy-impacted areas to recover and rebuild. Using the funding provided in the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, many communities in the Fourth Congressional District have rebuilt facilities, boardwalks, bulkheads and more. Many towns received substantial federal assistance to rebuild (click here to see some of the grants). \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWinning approval of federal disaster assistance was just the beginning and I have continued to fight to ensure our state\u2019s needs are fully met and prioritized within the federal government,\u201d said Smith who worked to ensure that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would reimburse communities at a rate of 90 percent for clean-up expenses along our shoreline and successfully persuaded HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan to make an iron-clad commitment to meet the remaining housing needs of the victims of Sandy in New Jersey. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith met with the highest official at FEMA, Director Craig Fugate, and pressed FEMA to approve a 90 percent federal share for FEMA funding going to all Jersey public assistance programs that pay for cleanup and reconstruction costs\u2014instead of the initially planned 75 percent. The resulting savings added up to millions of dollars which local towns and counties were spared. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cFortunately, FEMA awards for 90 percent of the cost of work, with a local cost share of only 10 percent, made a difference for many towns,\u201d Smith said. \u201cHad FEMA not raised the cost-share rate from 75 to 90 percent, many local towns would have had to come up with additional hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time when they were financially strapped and normal tax ratables such as homes and businesses were unoccupied and closed.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For instance, for the hard fought federal dollars to rebuild the boardwalk in Ocean Grove (Neptune Township), the FEMA award of $2.38 million was an estimated $400,000 higher with the 90 percent cost-share. FEMA had initially denied funding the project, but Smith and other local leaders rallied for more than a year to eventually see the decision finally reversed earlier this year. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Post Sandy HUD funding awarded to New Jersey totals $4.174 billion in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), including $2 billion to Homeowner Assistance Programs & Rental Housing and Rental Programs. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Smith also cosponsored and successfully pushed Congress to enact a number of reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), through the Homeowners Flood Insurance Affordability Act (P.L. 113-89). This law stopped the pending flood insurance premium increases mandated under the Biggert-Waters legislation that became law in 2012.\u00a0 P.L. 113-39 also phased in rate changes for current policy holders, enabled the transfer of consistent insurance rates when homeowners sell their properties and promotes the solvency of the NFIP for years to come. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWhile there is no doubt that our state is resilient and has rebuilt much of the damaged areas, there are remaining issues impacting homeowners and businesses,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWe must continue to work to ensure that our communities will be made whole.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Click here for addition resources on Recovering from Hurricane Sandy for Jersey Residents.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397674"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8675509598106146, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}