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Image: FEMA Inspector Richard Martin inspects a basement apartment in Hoboken two days after the residents applied for FEMA assistance. FEMA is working with many partners and organizations to provide assistance to residents affected by Hurricane Sandy.

blog.fema.gov - November 19th, 2012 - Lars Anderson

So far, more than 444,100 Hurricane Sandy survivors from Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island have applied for federal disaster assistance and more than $782 million in assistance has been approved.  As Sandy survivors continue to apply for assistance, many may find themselves asking what’s next after registering with FEMA. Often times, a housing inspection is needed to verify and assess damage claims made during registration, which is normal after any disaster.

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Submitted by Naomi Rothwell

ny1.com - November 20th, 2012

Residents living in the Rockaways are getting around a little easier today as the new H train shuttle is now up and running.

It is the first time trains have run in the Rockaways since Sandy hit three weeks ago.

The free shuttle service will run every 15 minutes between 4 a.m. and 1 a.m. making all stops between the Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue station and the Beach-90th Street-Holland station.

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Image: Dr. Aaron Gardener, center, attended to a patient at an ad hoc medical unit in Long Beach, N.Y. Many people have coughs, rashes and other ailments.

Submitted by Naomi Rothwell

nytimes.com - November 19th, 2012 - Anemona Hartocollis

Day and night, victims of Hurricane Sandy have been streaming into ad hoc emergency rooms and relief centers, like the MASH-type medical unit on an athletic field in Long Beach, and the warming tent in the Rockaways the size of a small high school gym.

They complain of rashes, asthma and coughing. They need tetanus shots because — house-proud and armed with survivalist instincts — they have been ripping out waterlogged boards and getting poked by rusty nails.

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Image: Cleaning up destroyed homes in Sandy's wake.

Submitted by Naomi Rothwell

features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com - November 15th, 2012 - Katie Benner

What has been conspicuously absent from the areas of New York City hardest hit by Superstorm Sandy are shelters set up by the American Red Cross, an organization that as part of its mission statement provides shelter in times of disaster. The organization states in its shelter operations manual: "When large groups of people are temporarily displaced from their homes, the American Red Cross responds by opening and operating shelters."

In the immediate aftermath of the storm, the Red Cross held several emergency training sessions for shelter volunteers (I attended a November 2 session), telling classes that they needed to plan for a three-day stint away from home and be able to lift heavy loads.

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