In this aerial photograph, people stand near damaged homes in Mantoloking, N.J., Friday, Nov. 9, 2012. Residents began returning to their homes after the region was pounded by Superstorm Sandy last week.OCEANPORT, N.J. – The state of New Jersey on Friday decided to move about 200 storm evacuees in a large tent shelter after photos taken by one of the evacuees showed a shelter resident bundled in a blanket pulled over her head and others in winter coats, including a child in a stroller.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Human Services said the space built for 2,000 on the grounds of Monmouth Park racetrack was too big for the relatively small number of evacuees, and it appears that the shelter will be taken down sooner than expected.
Human Services spokeswoman Nicole Brossoie told The Associated Press on Friday that the people who have been staying there since Wednesday will move Saturday to the clubhouse at the racetrack.
She said about 130 people staying in shelters in Ocean County were also being moved to the clubhouse on Friday.
She said that crisis mental health counselors would join Federal Emergency Management Agency officials and other service providers in the clubhouse.