6 years later, some Sandy victims still not home

<p>Superstorm Sandy struck the Garden State six years ago, devastating areas along the Jersey Shore. In all of that time, there are still some New Jersey residents who are still not back in their homes that were damaged.</p>

News 12 Staff

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Oct 30, 2018, 2:39 AM

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Updated 2,249 days ago

Superstorm Sandy struck the Garden State six years ago, devastating areas along the Jersey Shore. In all of that time, there are still some New Jersey residents who are still not back in their homes that were damaged.

State officials say that there are still about 1,200 New Jersey families that are still dealing with Sandy aftermath – including Tricia McAvoy.

McAvoy says that her home was raised six feet, but that she has run out of money to complete all of the work needed to be done on the home.

“I’ll never forget the sound of the gurgling about 1 a.m.,” she says.

McAvoy says that within 20 minutes, 4 feet of water poured into her Brick Township home. Now six years later, the home still sits empty. She say that she still pays taxes on it but that she has frozen her mortgage.

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The home’s foundation will need to be fixed because the house was raised before the bulkhead along the lagoon was repaired. The house sunk 4 inches, creating cracks.

McAvoy says that she received $150,000 from insurance, $42,000 from RREM funding and has also spent $32,000 out of pocket. She says that she cannot afford any more.

But some relief may be on the way. Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday that $50 million in federal funding will provide zero-interest loans to people like McAvoy, which will allow them to finally fix their homes.

“All I’ve wanted to do is one day come home and sleep in my bed again,” McAvoy says.

McAvoy says that she sometimes regrets having her home raised, especially after seeing her neighbors who reported less than 50 percent damaged who refused to being back home years ago.