Superstar Hockey Players Raise $50,000 for Hurricane Sandy Relief

The North American Hockey Legends held an exhibition game on April 13th to raise money for victims of Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey. 

At the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey former players for the New Jersey Devils and other former hockey legends played an exhibition game against Russian Hockey Legends to raise money for charity. In all they were able to raise more than $50,000 with an attendance of 6,000.

Each member of the North American team sported special jerseys for the event; the words New Jersey appeared on the jerseys with Sandy 2012 emblazoned below them, also featuring two hurricane flags as part of the design. The North American team stayed to colors worn by the New Jersey Devils and each player wore a black stripe that highlighted different municipalities that were hard hit by Hurricane Sandy throughout the state. Jerseys worn by the players were auctioned off live at the event, with play Brian Leetch's jersey raising more than $2,200 for Hurricane Sandy relief.

The game itself resulted in a win for the Russians of 7-6, despite North America coming back from a 6-2 deficit in the third period. But the result of the game was not what was important to the players or those in attendance; the point was to raise money to help those in need and in this way it was a great success.

For more information on the charity exhibition you can read the article from Bleacher Report.

Hurricane Sandy Transitional Housing Program to End

Federal shelter assistance will end May 1st for those who were displaced by Hurricane Sandy. 

It was announced today by Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie that the Transitional Sheltering Assistance program that was instituted by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) after Hurricane Sandy collided with the state will end May 1, 2013. This decision to institute the final extension sought by the State is a result of exhaustive casework that concluded almost all of those who were participating in the program will have secured solutions for long-term housing by that date.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy there has been an intensive outreach program that has involved phone calls, electronic notifications and communications, as well as counseling in person for those who required housing solutions. Of the roughly 5,500 families that were displaced in New Jersey, roughly only 219 residents remain displaced, and both the Governor and FEMA believe that they will be able to find housing for them.

Said Governor Christie, in a statement issued today:

"FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance Program has been invaluable in giving Sandy-displaced families the time they need to find a safe, suitable housing solution that works for them. Now, six months after Sandy’s landfall, we are able to conclude the program with an effort to help the last remaining families solidify a long-term housing solution. I thank FEMA for their work with us to keep this program running as long as was required to secure the best possible housing options displaced families, and bring a successful close to the program.” 

Over the course of the federal assistance programs, 435 hotels participated in the Transitional Sheltering Assistance program with 253,425 room nights being provided with a stay of an average of 31 days. Once the program has concluded the total cost is expected to be just below $34 million.

You can read more about this program through the official statement made by the State of New Jersey.

Discrepancies Over Billing During Hurricane Sandy Power Outages

New Jersey residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the force of Hurricane Sandy have begun to receive utility bills that reflect power usage that would have been flat-out impossible, considering not only the power outages, but also the fact that many of the homes and businesses were uninhabitable after the storm.

Many New Jersey residents are reporting utility bills that don’t seem to reflect the amount of power that is being used. In fact, many of these bills from Jersey Central Power & Light seem to be grossly inflated, since the residences for which the power usage was estimated were knocked from the foundations and therefore uninhabitable[1].

The billing practice for Jersey Central Power & Light (as well as other power companies) is to estimate the amount of power that should have been used during a particular time frame and bill the customer based on that assessment. What JCP & L failed to take into account was that the amount of power used by many New Jersey inhabitants post-hurricane was significantly less than what it ordinarily would have been. A woman who lives in Seaside Park received a series of utility bills from the months of October through February for the same pre-hurricane amount, only she hadn’t been in her home in two months. When she contacted JCP & L, she was told by a service representative that the billing would take approximately 30 days to resolve.

JCP & L has told residents who have received erroneous bills that they are free to call their help line for assistance, but hasn’t yet issued a statement regarding the billing practices. Recently, JCP & L announced their plans to implement a 4.5 percent rate increase in order to pay for the restoration and repair of the utility lines that had fallen during the storm.

It is estimated that 10,000 homes in Ocean County are still unoccupied, and many of the owners are still receiving estimated utility bills.

The inaccurate bills, combined with the intent to raise the rates, have caused outrage among many New Jersey residents, who don’t believe that the service that they received after the storm merited a rate hike.

Power wasn’t fully restored for weeks after the storm for many home and business owners, and the communication within the utility company was so poor that the field representatives didn’t even know where the outages were, in spite of local officials notifying of the locations. According to Robbinsville Mayor David Fried, many officials will try to appeal the rate hike request, and try to lobby for the option of choosing the power company for the region, rather than having a power supplier assigned without negotiation.

---

[1] Friedman, Alexi: Some Hurricane Sandy-Affected Residents Report ‘Wildly Inaccurate’ Electric Bills 3/4/2013 The Star Ledger http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2013/03/some_hurricane_sandy-displaced.html

NY City and New Jersey Gas Availability

New York and New Jersey Gasoline Rationing Coming to an End

Among the many problems east coast residents must suffer in the wake of Hurricane Sandy—homelessness and loss of power, to name only two—there is now also the lack of gasoline availability in New York and New Jersey. Although the mandatory rationing that has been enforced throughout different counties is now coming to an end (New York city announced that rationing will continue until the end of the week of November 18th, even though the long lines that initiated the regulation have, for the most part, disappeared), many residents are accusing gas stations throughout the region of price gouging, with many gas stations charging as much as $9 per gallon of gas. Thirteen gas stations in New York are being charged with civil price gouging.

At the time of the storm, average gas prices were about $4, and no gas station in New York City charged more than $4.22. However, shortly thereafter, many gas stations began charging nearly $5 per gallon. The state attorney general’s office has received more than 600 complaints of exorbitantly high gas prices, and of gas stations advertising a certain price on roadside signs but charging higher prices at the pump.

Halted Distribution Causes Gas Panic

Supply of gasoline in the east coast was compromised due to the fact that distribution was halted and the power outage prevented gas stations from being able to pump the gas. The panic resulted in a flood of customers, afraid that the supply would completely run out, to the remaining gas stations. Gas lines in some neighborhoods stretched to nearly a mile long, and fights repeatedly broke out amongst customers accusing each other of cutting in front. The rationing process, which only permitted the sale of gas to customers with even or odd-numbered license plates on certain days, or limited the amount of gasoline to ten gallons per person, seemed to have largely eliminated the lines.

The gas stations that have been cited for price gouging have been notified by the state attorney general’s office that they have the opportunity to explain and attempt to justify the higher prices while the proceeding is underway. After Hurricane Irene, two gas stations were found to have raised prices, and were subsequently fined substantial penalties. With one quarter of the New Jersey power stations being restored to functionality, the power outages that have caused much of the gas anxiety will, hopefully, slowly come to an end.