FEMA extends hotel stays for Sandy victims

TINTON FALLS, N.J. -- On the day federal money for superstorm Sandy victims' hotel stays were scheduled to run out, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced it would continue paying hotel bills another two weeks, easing the anxiety of thousands of displaced New York and New Jersey residents.

The last-minute extension of the Transitional Sheltering Assistance program was announced exactly a month after Sandy struck and sent thousands of people from their homes.

But the announcement also came on the day cash-strapped hurricane victims were supposed to check out of their hotels.

Many storm victims have found temporary rentals, arrangements with friends or family or have returned to their homes, but many others are still on hold. As of Wednesday, 2,824 people were in the sheltering program in New Jersey, FEMA spokeswoman Robin Smith said.

With so many people in the program, the agency had no clear explanation why the extension came so late. Mary Goepfert, spokeswoman for the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management, suggested an earlier announcement might relax the true goal of the recovery, which is for people to find long-term housing.

"The bottom line is we want to make sure people became engaged in recoveries," Goepfert said. "Although it's safe and suitable, (staying in a hotel) is not the next step to recovery."

In a previous interview, Smith said FEMA's operations were at the mercy of state leadership.

"We are here to back up the state of New Jersey. We do what we are asked to by the state," she said. "It's up to the state to determine what the next step is."

For Jason Braun, a displaced Long Branch, N.J., resident who said a large portion of his FEMA-issued check for a rental was stolen while he was staying in a shelter, clarity couldn't come sooner.

His dog, Bullet, is injured. His Buick flooded during the storm, so he has been unable to get to work at a medical office in Long Branch since he has been staying at a Red Roof Inn in Tinton Falls, N.J., about 7 miles away. He has been at the motel since Nov. 20 and was running out of money – and patience – waiting for FEMA to decide whether to extend the program, he said.

"I'm hungry. My dog is hungry," Braun, 39, said. "I've got nothing left."

Goepfert said the sheltering program always was intended as a temporary measure.

"The point is not to throw people out of hotels and on the street," she said.

She added that teams were being dispatched to hotels this week to reach out to people in unique circumstances, such as Braun.

"We're working very hard to put safety nets in place so that they don't slip through the cracks," Goepfert said.

That didn't appear to be the case Thursday. Roshawn Junior and his girlfriend, Antoinella Johnson, were told their room at the Hampton Inn in Neptune, N.J., was not going to be paid for through the extension.

The Seaside Heights, N.J., couple was told that the barrier island town, which suffered extensive damage in the storm and is under a 3 p.m. curfew, is livable, Junior said. He was told he had to check out of the hotel about 20 miles from home at 2 p.m. Thursday.

"We have nowhere to go, and we have no means to get out of the cold," said Junior, 41.

Smith said the agency would take a second look at Junior's case.

The sheltering assistance program was up and running days after Sandy and originally was set to expire Nov. 14. The state requested FEMA to extend it another two weeks, which took the program to Nov. 28, meaning people enrolled would have had to check out of their rooms Thursday morning or pay for their stays.

The last hotel night covered by this extension will be Dec. 12, so people will have to check out Dec. 13, according to the agency.

That still leaves people like Braun, who are having difficulties finding long-term housing, with uncertainty – it is just delayed 14 days.

"There's just no end in sight," Braun said. "There's not a finish line where we can say, 'OK, we're going to get to this point and it's going to be over.' "

Dustin Racioppi, Asbury Park (N.J.) Press