Not much has changed after Hurricane Sandy

Five Towns villages still waiting on state money

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When Hurricane Sandy struck the Five Towns two years ago, flooding damaged homes, schools and businesses, the storm caused a community-wide power outage created fuel shortages and punctured a hole in the collective security.
But according to three village leaders, improvements still hinge on receiving the promised Community Reconstruction Program (CRP) money through the state’s NY Rising program.
Village of Lawrence Mayor Martin Oliner said that despite the fact that the employees in the highway and building departments are better trained and the village has revised some internal procedures there is “no real difference between today and two years ago,” after Sandy struck.
“I don’t think enough has been done,” he said. “Even the money from [the state], we haven’t seen.” Lawrence is anticipating receiving $3 million of the planned $27 million from the CRP that was allocated to the Five Towns. The village wants to use that money to mitigate flooding in low-lying portions of the municipality.
Oliner said that he has met officials from PSEG Long Island and said they are “impressive,” but he added, “we still don’t know if they are better than the other company,” referring to the Long Island Power Authority.
Lawrence has issued more permits “than ever before” for personal generators and catch basins are being cleaned every month. “But if the power goes, it is still a horror,” he said.
In Hewlett Harbor, despite experiencing devastation in several areas, residents and the village alike are moving forward with rebuilding plans. At this point, people are familiar with what to do and how to get money to rebuild through several different avenues and agencies, according to the village’s mayor, Mark Weiss.
“One of the things we’ve learned is that we’ve got to put systems in to take responsibility for our own villages,” he said. “Resources were depleted, so in the future, we need to put our resources in place before a storm.”

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