Sandy victims can’t appeal decisions on aid: NJ officials

Faulty data was used to judge victims' applications: FEMA

Governor Chris Christie
Governor Chris Christie

Victims of Hurricane Sandy that were denied New Jersey recovery grants can’t appeal those decisions, state officials said yesterday, despite the revelation that faulty data was used to turn down some of the applications for aid.

New Jersey used data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help determine which homeowners got approved for the state’s two main rebuilding grants. But FEMA said although it was made clear to state officials that damage estimates were made only for essential repairs, the state used the estimates to judge applications.

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Because of this, the damages to some Sandy victims’ homes were undervalued, making them ineligible for the rebuilding grants, the Wall Street Journal reported. In contrast, in New York, state officials use a much broader pool of data to determine eligibility for aid.

New Jersey state officials told the newspaper that only a small number of applications were incorrectly rejected for the grants. [WSJ]  – Hiten Samtani