Sandy victims still looking to rebuild two years later

TOMS RIVER, N.J. (WPVI) -- It's been nearly two years since Superstorm Sandy destroyed parts of New Jersey, including countless homes.

Despite filling out all the FEMA recovery forms, some residents say endless red tape is preventing them from rebuilding.

"It's inconceivable to me that my daughter and I are displaced 20 months, almost 2 years after the storm," Doug Quinn of Toms River, NJ said.

As he walked through his gutted home, Quinn was beyond frustrated.

He had a quarter of a million dollars' worth of federal flood insurance, but received a settlement of just $92,000 which went directly to his mortgage company.

He eventually got half of that, which is not nearly enough money to fix his house.

"To have $250,000 of coverage, to have relied on the national flood insurance program and think that we had this false sense of security that that was actually going to replace our home, it's fraud, that's really what it is," Quinn said.

"This is just a war. It's a war between homeowners and the government," Dianne Mazzacca of Beach Haven West, NJ said.

Mazzacca was among a group of Sandy victims meeting with Senator Bob Menendez.

Menendez is investigating numerous complaints about the federal flood insurance program run by FEMA and charges its lowballing reimbursement payouts.

Mazzacca and her husband say they got 20 cents on the dollar for their $250,000 policy, a payment delayed because someone changed their paperwork to say their home was a secondary residence when it was their primary.

"We don't know who it was who changed our paperwork on us, but now we are ineligible for any of the grants that were offered by the government," Gary Mazzacca said.

Menendez says the claims process is tilted against homeowners.

"I don't want the federal flood insurance to pay anybody more than what they should get. I also don't want the federal flood insurance to pay anybody any less than what they should get," Menendez said.

Senator Menendez will be holding a hearing in Washington Wednesday where he plans to grill the head of FEMA and look for answers on how disaster victims can be treated more fairly - and faster.