ELIZABETH, N.J. (WCBS 880) — Nearly a month after the remnants of Hurricane Ida battered the Tri-State area, people in one New Jersey town are still looking for answers and, in some cases, a place to live.
As many as 600 people in Elizabeth are still without a place to live after a large part of the city was flooded when Ida passed through the area.
Many of those displaced had been living in the hard-hit Oakwood Plaza Apartments, where four people died during the storm.
“These people are in a really dire situation,” said local activist Salaam Ismial.
He told WCBS 880 that some people from the apartment complex are living in hotels, while others were forced to move into their cars temporarily.
“Many of them are still either living in hotels or motels, or with family – at least one or two people are living on the street,” he said.
Ismial was with officials from the Department of Housing and Urban Development when they came to visit the apartment complex on Monday.
He said he was extremely disappointed by the visit.
“They looked at the building and felt more sorry for an abandoned building than the residents who are still outside of their homes,” he told WCBS 880.
Some Oakwood residents are being given the option to move into other buildings owned by the same management company, but they are located far from Elizabeth in Toms River and Atlantic City.
“For you to have a job in Elizabeth and now have to travel, what – an hour, hour and a half to get to your work… I mean this is despicable,” Ismial said of the option.
He is calling on HUD officials to offer rental assistance so that families can stay in the area that they call home.
“They’re afraid, these families are afraid because what else are they going to do,” Ismial said.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage has already said it could take up to a year to repair the most severely damaged apartments.
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