Sandy relief still eludes many storm victims

Several disaster relief programs have been created in the year since Superstorm Sandy devastated the region, but the storm’s victims have had only mixed success in acquiring the dollars associated with post-storm legislation. Here’s a look at how funds have been apportioned to four of these initiatives.

Build it Back: Registration began in early June for this federally funded but city-driven relief program aimed at helping New Yorkers with home repair and other rebuilding efforts. It’s a $648 million effort and upward of 24,000 people have signed up. The deadline to enroll was Thursday, Oct. 31. As of last week, however, only one person, a Staten Island widow, had received a payment. Before funds are issued, the city must verify the extent of damages and determine how much more money should be allotted.

Rapid Repairs: Like Build it Back, the Rapid Repairs program was city-executed, with a $500 million chunk of federal cash. It was launched shortly after the storm ended and concluded in March. Some 20,000 residents were provided home improvement help. City workers were at the forefront of these efforts.

HUD: Those who’ve been waiting for money from the federal department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) were greeted with encouraging news last week when it was announced that an additional $1.34 billion in federal aid for New York City will be distributed in the coming weeks. That money is aimed at closing the gap between what small businesses and homeowners received from FEMA and private insurance companies and their total repair costs. This is the second major chunk of HUD money to reach the city, with the first — $1.77 billion — having been issued in the early portion of 2013.

FEMA: More than $1.4 billion has been provided to roughly 200,000 people by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but that money was doled out to five states primarily to address the storm’s immediate effects such as transportation and rent costs for those displaced. Only in recent months have people started getting approved for rebuilding loans.

Funding was delayed, most say, because of logistical roadblocks. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, new federal regulations were put in place to reduce the number of fraudulent claims associated with storms, an issue that plagued the Gulf Coast region.