Hurricane Sandy & Disaster Relief

Superstorm Sandy was the second largest natural disaster in our nation’s history and the most devastating and costly to affect New York and Long Island. New York State alone experienced $32.8 billion in damage, more than $8.4 billion of which was on Long Island. In many respects, the damage was worse than Hurricane Katrina. In New York alone, over 305,000 housing units and 265,000 businesses were damaged or destroyed by the storm compared to Katrina and Rita, which damaged 214,000 and 18,000 units, respectively. More than 2 million people lost power and more than 171,000 people remained without power more than ten days after the storm.

Congress’ behavior in the aftermath of the storm was reprehensible. After a grueling fight, I led the successful effort to secure an aid package that provides roughly $60 billion for the Northeast.

The recovery process will be long and painful at times. Please do not hesitate to contact my office should you have any questions or require assistance.

For those constituents impacted by Hurricane Sandy, below are useful links to assistance and resources to help with the recovery effort:

FEMA Assistance
National Flood Insurance
SBA Disaster Loans
New York Rising
IRS Tax Relief for Sandy Victims
HUD Assistance for Those Forced from Their Homes
Medicare Enrollment Flexibility
FEMA Housing Assistance
FEMA STEP Program
Fire Department Grants
NFIP Sandy Accelerated Partial Payment Process
Recreate NY Smart Housing Program
New York State Small Business Storm Recovery Program

FEMA Disaster Assistance:

Individuals can register with FEMA online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or via smartphone or tablet at m.fema.gov. Applicants may also call 800-621-3362 (Voice, 7-1-1/Relay) or

TTY 800-462-7585. The toll-free telephone numbers operate 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. EST, seven days a week.

For more information on New York’s disaster recovery, visit www.fema.gov/SandyNY, www.twitter.com/FEMASandy, www.facebook.com/FEMASandy and www.fema.gov/blog.