Thousands of families that evacuated during Sandy remain in temporary hotel situations with no concrete plan to get them back into permanent housing, according to the evacuees and groups advocating on their behalf.

The Christie administration was quick to sign up with a Florida firm to help clean up the state after Sandy. The firm, Ashbritt, specializes in expediting Federal Emergency Management Agency payments for debris removal for local governments. It also has given close to $300,000 dollars to both the Republican and Democratic Governors Associations, according to The Star-Ledger.

Monday is the last day for New Yorkers and New Jerseyans affected by Sandy to apply for federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance. 

New Jersey is seeing an unprecedented wave of home improvement contractors from out-of-state, looking to cash in on repairing the tens of thousands of homes damaged by Sandy, according to state officials. The state's Division of Consumer Affairs is warning that failure to do some basic research could cost home owners dearly.

Bob Dennis, parish manager for St. Margaret Mary Roman Catholic Church in Midland Beach talks about how the parish is recovering from Sandy and what the community needs to keep going. Also, Christine Mignone-Morena, owner of Bedazzle Dance Studio on Midland Ave., talks about reopening her business and how the students in her classes are responding to the damage in the community and Tracy Lotz, homeowners and member of the board of the Midland Beach Alliance, talks about her experience as a homeowner, and what new flood zone maps might mean for Midland Beach residents.

Also, Janet Babin, WNYC reporter, checks in from Freeport, New York on her road trip from Cape May to Montauk.

New Jersey state officials are beginning to discuss how to manage the spending of their portion of the $50.5 billion Sandy relief package that was approved by the Senate yesterday, and some officials are concerned there are not adequate controls in place to monitor how the money is spent. 

Governor Chris Christie says New Jersey is adopting the advisory flood maps released last month by the federal government to help guide rebuilding following Sandy.

As temperatures dip many residents of the Rockaways, an area hard hit by Sandy, are among the 8,200 still without power in the aftermath of the powerful storm that tore through the seaside community.

Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled his $142.6 billion budget Tuesday, laying out how the state will spend a hoped-for $30 billion in aid, including spending for inflatable bladders to protect transit tunnels and building new dunes on beaches.

Seaside Heights became the second New Jersey town to award contracts to rebuild its boardwalk this week. WNYC examines the perils of rebuilding along the Jersey shore and some mitigation measures the state is looking at.

Last night, more than two months after Sandy devastated Coastal New York and New Jersey, the House finally passed a $50.7 billion aid bill for victims of the storm. Bob Hennelly, contributing editor for politics and investigations for Takeaway co-producer WNYC, discusses what's in the relief bill.

Residents of Coastal New York and New Jersey are still feeling the aftereffects of Sandy more than two months after the powerful storm. President Obama signed a $9.7 billion Sandy aid package last Sunday, and Congress will decide the fate of another $51 billion aid package next Tuesday. Bob Hennelly, contributing editor for politics and investigations for Takeaway co-producer WNYC, discusses the politics behind Sandy aid, and how victims are coping.

Governor Chris Christie joined local officials in Belmar on Wednesday to break ground on a project to rebuild that town's 1.3 mile boardwalk destoryed by Sandy. 

Eight weeks after Sandy, the offices of New Amsterdam Records, an independent record label in Red Hook, Brooklyn, remain battered.

Governor Andrew Cuomo will lay out his agenda for his third year in office this week when he delivers his State of the State address on Wednesday. More gun restrictions and the governor’s vision for post-Sandy New York are likely to top his updated his priority list.

The Bloomberg administration estimates that 13,000 businesses in New York City were damaged during Sandy, but more than two months after the storm only a few hundred have been approved for emergency loans.

Although the full aid commitment is expected to be much more, the measure could boost prospects for relief for the many home and business owners devastated by the storm.

Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia School of Public Health and founder of the Children's Health Fund talks about his work as the co-chair of the post-Sandy New York State Ready commission. He is also the author of Americans at Risk: Why We Are Not Prepared for Megadisasters and What We Can Do. 

New Jersey and New York's congressional representatives from both sides of the aisle are blasting the House Republican leadership's decision to keep the Sandy aid bill from getting a vote on Tuesday.