The May 1 deadline for those impacted by Hurricane Sandy to register with FEMA is final, but Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer Bill Vogel told NJ Today Senior Correspondent Desirée Taylor that FEMA would still be able to evaluate individuals with extenuating circumstances. He explained that help is still available and FEMA would be in New Jersey as long as the recovery takes.
The typical registration period after a declared disaster is 60 days, according to Vogel. He said FEMA then works with the state to decide on an extension, which has been done twice in New Jersey since Sandy struck.
“We’ve all decided as a team that the registration period is up. But that does not necessarily mean that no one can apply now,” he said. “If someone has some circumstances that have prevented them from registering, they can still call our FEMA number — 1-800-621-3362 — explain their circumstances and we’ll certainly consider the case.”
With the deadline looming, FEMA has seen a spike in registrants, which Vogel said is typical at the end of a registration period. In the last 24 hours, he said there have been 171 new registrants. In total, he said FEMA has 260,000 people registered for Hurricane Sandy relief.
“They’re getting individual assistance and we’ve had many people in the Transition Shelter Assistance program. We have 114 of them occupying units in Fort Monmouth. and we have 79 of them that we’ve given direct housing support to throughout Monmouth and Ocean County,” Vogel said.
Some of FEMA’s Disaster Recovery Centers are transitioning to Disaster Loan Outreach Centers, which are run by the Small Business Administration. “These Disaster Loan Outreach Centers are staffed with people from FEMA so that if someone comes in and has a question about their registration, we’re able to help them,” Vogel said.
Vogel said help is still available if it’s needed and he encouraged people to call the FEMA registration number or visit disasterassistance.gov to get information.
“We’ll be here with New Jersey as long as it takes and we certainly do understand how terrible the situation was. But I have to tell you, the team of the state and the local officials that are working with us is fantastic,” Vogel said.