NJ evacuees being moved from tent shelters
BY Associated Press
Saturday, November 10, 2012
11/10/12 at 7:32 AM
OCEANPORT, N.J. (AP) - 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.
The photos that attracted attention to conditions at the tent complex were taken Wednesday by Brian Sotelo, a Seaside Heights resident evacuated to the shelter, and shared with the Asbury Park Press, the newspaper reported Friday.
Sotelo told the newspaper it was so cold in the tent Wednesday night that evacuees could see their breath.
The tent complex was set up to house thousands of out-of-state utility workers and law enforcement officers helping in the recovery from superstorm Sandy. The evacuees are being housed separately from the utility workers and police.
Original Print Headline: Evacuees in tent shelters to move
