New Jersey Government Defends Use of Tent Shelters After Backlash and Photos Emerge From Storm Evacuees

On Friday, the state of New Jersey was forced to respond to complaints made by Hurricane Sandy evacuees who were placed in large tent shelters, which evacuees said were so cold they could see their breath. The state defended its placement of nearly 200 storm evacuees, The Associated Press reported.

Complaints first emerged when Seaside Heights resident Brian Sotelo, who was evacuated to the shelter with his family, photographed evacuees bundled up in the cold on Wednesday. Sotelo then shared the photos with the Asbury Park Press and said that residents were denied power to charge their phones and were left in freezing tents.

The Seaside Heights resident had first taken shelter at Pine Belt Arena in Toms River with his wife and three children, the Asbury Park Press reported. Sotelo, 46, went on to tell the newspaper that he believed his home, which had a foot of flooding, was better than the tent shelter.

Sotelo told Asbury Park Press, "Sitting there last night you could see your breath. At (Pine Belt) the Red Cross made an announcement that they were sending us to permanent structures up here that had just been redone, that had washing machines and hot showers and steady electric, and they sent us to tent city. We got (expletive)."

According to the AP, the tent shelter located on the grounds of Monmouth Park racetrack originally housed thousands of out-of-state utility workers and law enforcement officials working in the post-Sandy recovery effort. Evacuees had been placed at the tent shelter after the buildings they were initially sheltered in returned to their normal use.

Nicole Brossoie, spokeswoman for State Human Services, told the AP that she had been unable to bus evacuees to a new shelter before the nor'easter hit New Jersey on Wednesday. Brossoie said that as a result, residents found the heated tent shelter to be wet and cold when they arrived.

Brossoie also spoke to the Ashbury Park Press and said, "The staff at the micro-city are providing for the needs of all the evacuees. Each day there is transportation to the pharmacy for prescription medications if needed. There are ADA (handicapped-accessible) toilets and showers on site."

She added, "There were concerns with the heat when evacuees first arrived. Those issues were resolved within a couple of hours by adding more heaters."

The AP reported that the tent shelter was comprised of several tents, including a sleeping tent, a shower and portable toilet tent, cafeteria tent and a fourth lounging area and charging station tent.

Reporters are banned from entering the tent shelter, the AP wrote.

The tents are expected to come down when they are no longer need by utility workers and evacuees are transporter to a new location Brossoie said. Power is expected to return to full capacity by this weekend, the AP reported.