Staten Island Immigrants Struggle With Sandy Recovery

The state has asked for $60.4 billion in aid to help families and businesses recover from Sandy, however not everyone will be eligible. The forms are complicated, and for immigrants who don’t speak English, navigating the system can be a challenge.

Lyn Governale,(L) who also lived in one of the homes that was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, stands with Maria Raquel Sanchez(R) as she speaks to the press on Dec. 18 in the Staten Island Borough of New York City. Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times

NEW YORK—When Hurricane Sandy slammed into New York on Oct. 29, the city’s low-lying areas were severely damaged, and no borough was hit harder than Staten Island.

The beachfront areas of Midland Beach, South Beach, New Dorp Beach, and Oakwood, areas where the immigrant population is almost 20 percent, sustained particularly heavy damage.

The state has asked for $60.4 billion in aid to help families and businesses recover from Sandy, however not everyone will be eligible. The forms are complicated, and for immigrants whose native language is not English, navigating the system can be a challenge.

Make the Road New York, a community-based advocacy group, interviewed 416 immigrant families on Staten Island and Long Island coping with trying to get aid. According to its report, released on Tuesday, 78 percent of the immigrants surveyed in the disaster zones had not applied for relief.