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Hurricane Sandy

How Disaster Aid Recipients Voted on Sandy Relief

By Al Shaw and Jeff Larson, ProPublica, Updated February 1, 2013

Late Tuesday evening, President Obama signed the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013, which allocates $50.7 billion for Hurricane Sandy aid. Though the measure passed both the Senate and the House, many members of Congress voted no despite their own states receiving millions of dollars in federal disaster assistance in 2012. Click the buttons below to see how members voted on the Sandy bill and how much FEMA money has been allocated to their state. Search by address or ZIP code to see how a member of the House voted and how much disaster assistance was allocated in their district.

House Vote Senate Vote 2012 Disaster Assistance Gulf Coast Vote Northeast Vote

Search by address or ZIP code to see 2012 disasters near you and how your representative voted.

House Vote

On Jan. 15, the House voted 241-180 and passed $50.7 billion in Hurricane Sandy Relief.

Dem GOP
Yes  
No  

Senate Vote

On Jan. 28, the Senate voted 62-36 and passed the Hurricane Sandy relief bill.

States where at least one senator voted no on H.R. 152

No 

2012 Disaster Assistance

In 2012, FEMA declared disasters in 33 states. Hover over the map to see how much assistance was allocated to each state shown.

FEMA Assistance
Spending-range-legend
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The Gulf Coast Vote

Despite disasters being declared in 155 counties in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi and receiving more than $400 million in FEMA assistance in 2012, 21 out of 44 House members from the Gulf Coast voted against H.R. 152. Rep. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana's 6th District told ProPublica the bill "provided relief but lacked transparency."

H.R. 152 vote in districts where disasters were declared in 2012

Dem GOP
Yes  
No  

The Northeast Vote

By contrast, support for the bill was bipartisan and unanimous across districts in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut affected by Hurricane Sandy.

H.R. 152 vote in districts where disasters were declared in 2012

Dem GOP
Yes  
No  

Sources: NYT Congress API, Federal Emergency Management Agency