5 Years After Sandy, Survey Shows Displeasure With NJ Recovery Efforts
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. (CBS) -- Five years after Superstorm Sandy ravaged parts of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut there is an updated survey of some of the hardest hit people in the Garden State. And they remain generally unhappy with the way in which they were helped by the government.
The Monmouth University Poll has stayed in touch with over 400 Sandy victims and issues an annual report card on recovery.
"A majority of them continue to be unhappy with the state's recovery effort," poll director Patrick Murray told KYW Newsradio. "It's 55% today. When we spoke to these same people just over four years ago about a year out from the storm, 67% were dissatisfied. So the number's gone down but not by a lot."
Mind you three out of four are back home now and two out of three took part in the state recovery program. That program, which saw its share of internal problems, has gotten generally bad grades.
"Even those who have completed their reconstruction say that they faced some incredible delays, a lot of red tape," Murray added. "They were getting threats that the money was going to be taken back from them because they didn't file certain paperwork which the state had lost."
56% of respondents say they felt forgotten by the state, suggesting businesses got a better break. and more than half insist they are financially worse off now than they were before Sandy hit.
A spokesman for Governor Chris Christie labels the survey as "feeble" and notes Murray's Democratic party connections. Spokesman Jeremy Rosen, in an e-mail, notes a disclaimer in the Monmouth survey labeling it "unscientific and reportedly involving a fraction of one percent of Sandy victims."