Crisfield Residents Outraged After FEMA Denies Sandy Funding - WMDT 47 News - Delmarva's Choice

CRISFIELD, Md. - The Crisfield Chamber of Commerce held a meeting Tuesday morning for businesses still affected by Hurricane Sandy. Monday night, FEMA announced they will not be granting federal aid to Somerset County. Residents and business owners at the meeting are at their wits end, desperate for help.

"The request to the federal government was a bunch of proud Crisfielders and Somerset Countians saying ' really for the first time ever we need some help from you guys and they said no. So it means we're on our own," resident John Phoebus says.

Businesses already strained in the rough economy were hoping for low interest loans, and many are not able to afford to take out more money on top of what was already lost.

One group most effected by this denial of individual assistance is local watermen. Marshall's Seafood in Marion Station tells us they've lost 50 thousand dollars since Superstorm Sandy. Like most watermen they are without insurance and feel they got the short end of the stick.

"We have to come up with the money out of mid air to rebuild in order to have our seafood business up and running by April 1st," owner Donna Marshall tells us.

Now Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin are fighting to appeal that decision. Both will attend a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security entitled "Hurricane Sandy: Response and Recovery – Progress and Challenges." The meeting will be live streamed Wednesday starting at 10 AM on the Senate website.

If you need help rebuilding and are not sure which resources are available, you can contact the Crisfield Chamber of Commerce at 410-968-2500.

Also if you would like to donate to those impacted by Sandy, click here.