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America's Homeless: The Rise of Tent City, USA

      

Homeless encampments known as "tent cities" are popping up across the country.

money.cnn.com - by Blake Ellis - May 16, 2014

Formed as an alternative to shelters and street-living, these makeshift communities are often set up off of highways, under bridges and in the woods. Some have "mayors" who determine the rules of the camp and who can and can't join, others are a free-for-all. Some are overflowing with trash, old food, human waste and drug paraphernalia, others are relatively clean and drug-free.

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The Grim Legacy Of Hurricane Sandy One Year Later

elitedaily.com - by Christian La Du - October 28, 2013

One year ago, the east coast was ravaged by SuperStorm Sandy, a freak occurrence combining a hurricane, Nor’easter, high tide, and a full moon, which wrought particular destruction on the tri-state area.

Although the enduring legacy of Sandy is not measured in tallies of destruction, numbers like 8.6 million homes and businesses without power, gas and water, 650,000 destroyed houses, 200,000 damaged businesses, and 286 deaths afflicted over 13 states. Approximately 50 million people felt the effects of the storm over 800 mile stretch, and an estimated $65 billion in economic damages were incurred.

The real, lasting effect of Hurricane Sandy, however, is in the radical life shifts that people forcibly underwent.

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The Hard Math of Flood Insurance in a Warming World

      

A man walks through flooded streets in Hoboken, New Jersey, after Superstorm Sandy | Emile Wamsteker/Bloomberg via Getty Images

As subsidized rates of federal flood insurance rise, property owners along the coasts get angry. But we need insurance that reflects the risks of a changing planet

time.com - by Bryan Walsh - October 1, 2013

Thousands of homeowners in flood-prone parts of the country are going to be in for a rude awakening.  On Oct. 1, new changes to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which offers government-subsidized policies for households and businesses threatened by floods, mean that businesses in flood zones and homes that have been severely or repeatedly flooded will start going up 25% a year until rates reach levels that would reflect the actual risk from flooding. (Higher rates for second or vacation homes went into effect at the start of 2013.) That means that property owners in flood-prone areas who might have once been paying around $500 a year—rates that were well below what the market would charge, given the threat from flooding—will go up by thousands of dollars over the next decade.

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Hoboken and Morristown Shortages

It appears that there are food, water and energy shortages in Hoboken and Morristown.  The problem right now is that commercial companies and thir vehicles are having difficulties operating in the flooding areas like Hoboken.  In those areas, emotions are getting stretched, where facilities and residences have no electricty or supplies.  

http://weather.aol.com/2012/10/31/tempers-flare-as-food-runs-short-in-hoboken-n-j/?ncid=webmail1

The National Guard has several vehicles that can deliver food and water neighborhood by neighborhood.  Citizen groups are also forming to assist with food and water distribution.  

Burger King has an emergency food and water distribution group.  They have been contacted.  Wegmans is fully operational in New Jersey.  Contacts have been made with New Jersey Emergency Services and with the New Jersey Food Council.  

Efforts are now underway to establish channels for using crowd-sourcing, intelligent social networks, social network analysis, and media analysis on the New Jersey food and water assessments.  Linkages are being made between DHS and the National Center for Food Protection and Defense to identify and resolve gaps in assessment processes.

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Reports of Fuel Shortages

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