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Jersey shore town aims to get last 2 Sandy families home

This Feb. 4, 2015 photo shows Krista Sperber inside her storm-damaged home in Belmar, N.J. The Jersey shore town began an effort on Feb. 5, 2015 to raise the $200,000 it will take to get Sperber's family and one other family back into their homes by June 1. Belmar's mayor says the families are the last in town that are still not able to return to their homes following the Oct. 2012 storm. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
This Feb. 4, 2015 photo shows Krista Sperber inside her storm-damaged home in Belmar, N.J. The Jersey shore town began an effort on Feb. 5, 2015 to raise the $200,000 it will take to get Sperber's family and one other family back into their homes by June 1. Belmar's mayor says the families are the last in town that are still not able to return to their homes following the Oct. 2012 storm. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry) This Feb. 4, 2015 photo shows Krista Sperber inside her storm-damaged home in Belmar, N.J. The Jersey shore town began an effort on Feb. 5, 2015 to raise the $200,000 it will take to get Sperber's family and one other family back into their homes by June 1. Belmar's mayor says the families are the last in town that are still not able to return to their homes following the Oct. 2012 storm. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

By Associated Press 4 min read

BELMAR, N.J. (AP) – Just before the floodwaters of Superstorm Sandy inundated Krista Sperber’s home, she had her two young children grab what they could from their rooms and hop in the car for a ride to a relative’s home away from the coast. She figured they’d be gone for a few days.

That was nearly 2 ½ years ago.

Belmar saw about 2,000 families displaced by the Oct. 29, 2012 storm; all but two have been able to return to their homes, Mayor Matt Doherty said.

Now the town is launching an “It’s A Wonderful Life”-type effort to raise the $200,000 needed to get them back in their homes by the start of the third summer after the storm.

“They didn’t know when I took them out of the house that night that they wouldn’t be back for years,” Sperber said of her children, Jack Held, 14, and Maisie Held, 12. “We’re out of time, out of money, and out of options. We did everything right: we went through all the proper channels, and the proper channels failed us.”