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Smith Island Excluded from Federal "Sandy" Rehab Help

smithisland.org

Smith Island homeowners will not be getting federal money for damage suffered during Hurricane Sandy.

During a meeting with state officials Tuesday night they said that all of the Community Development Block Grant funding will be directed to the county for recovery efforts.

$5 million of it will go to rehabilitate and elevate houses in Crisfield and other storm damaged areas.

But Cindy Stone with the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development said that none will go to Smith Island and possibly other flood-prone areas on the mainland that are likely to be damaged again.

Resident Maxine Landon told the Salisbury Daily Times, “It’s a shock.”

She lives in Rhodes Point one of the three villages on the island.

Landon added, it tells here that the government does not care for the people on Smith Island.

Instead, $2 million of grant money will be available for buyouts on Smith Island which studies show is disappearing.

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.