Survivors of storms that pounded several U.S. states say the nation's disaster aid system is broken and want reforms to get money into victims' hands faster, with less red tape.
In this Oct. 31, 2012 photo, Peter Green surveys the wreckage of an oceanfront home in Bay Head N.J. two days after Superstorm Sandy hit. Ten years later, government officials and residents say much has been done to prepare for future storms but caution that much more still remains to be done in an era of rising sea levels and a changing climate.
Robert Lukasiewicz said Sandy sounded like “a hundred freight trains” as it roared past his Atlantic City, New Jersey home on Oct. 29, 2012. The survivors and their advocates listed five reforms they say are needed to help future storm victims avoid the type of delays, runarounds and financial desperation they experienced: getting money into people’s hands more quickly; ensuring that disaster recovery systems are applied equitably; making flood insurance work for storm victims instead of against them; including future storm resiliency into disaster recovery efforts; and ensuring that disaster recovery is systematic, not piecemeal.
“That’s been the Holy Grail, to get aid to people while their house was flooded,” he said. “That’s taxpayer money, so we have to be cautious, not just throwing it away, making sure it gets to the right place and is properly used. We’re trying to get to a mechanism that allows for quicker relief.”