Millburn residents band together to rebuild and help neighbors after intense Ida damage – NorthJersey.com

In the wake of the destruction left by Hurricane Ida, there has been an outpouring of support for families who lost everything in the storm, including the Hossain-Mius.

Kim Miu, her husband Saeed Hossain and their two children had to be rescued from their home when the rushing waters from the Rahway River flooded the basement and first floor of their single-story home in Millburn, according to Kim’s brother Jason.

“They’re really just trying to figure out how to deal with all this,” Miu said. 

Miu said the South Mountain neighborhood home’s basement was completely submerged and the water was about waist-high on the first floor. 

“Everything was lost,” Miu said. “The water was sitting for the night and the water was not clean.”

In the GoFundMe, Miu said it will be a long road to rebuild the house and they cannot return to their home any time soon.

The Hossain-Miu's Millburn home was devastated by Hurricane Ida. The rushing waters from the overflowing Rahway River completely submerged the home's basement and there was waist-high water in the rest of the home. The family lost everything. They moved into temporary housing.

Joanna Parker, a realtor in town who co-owns the Jodi and Joanna Group and longtime volunteer organizer, has been one of many who helped move the Hossain-Miu family into a temporary apartment and collect donations. 

The family thanked everyone who contributed to the GoFundMe and who provided support throughout the ordeal.

Miu said it was “amazing” how many people came out that weekend to help the family assess the damage to the home and remove items from the basement and main floor.

“It was pretty incredible that people are spending their weekend helping out a lot of people on the street,” Miu said. “It’s really amazing to see that people are helping out. Not even with Ida but especially in the last year.

The Hossain-Miu family is not the only family being helped by Parker and her business partner, Jodi Rubenstein. The pair spent several days organizing volunteers to help families and businesses devastated by Ida.

“We were so amazed at how many people showed up in good faith to just come to clean up the town and clean up the downtown and residences,” Parker said.

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Parker said they immediately focused on families who were in tough situations, especially without anywhere to stay. She and her business partner concentrated on finding immediate housing for those whose homes were uninhabitable and didn’t have relatives nearby.

She said they are now working on getting other families into temporary housing and finding furniture for the apartments. Parker and Rubenstein have also been working with local banks to potentially help residents with an equity line of credit rather than draining retirement funds, asking other real estate agents to waive their fees when helping these families and are looking to collaborate with utility companies like PSE&G.

The Hossain-Miu's Millburn home was devastated by Hurricane Ida. The rushing waters from the overflowing Rahway River completely submerged the home's basement and there was waist-high water in the rest of the home. The family lost everything. They moved into temporary housing.

Kim Sleeman, founder and director of a nonprofit called The Warehouse, partnered with The Jodi and Joanna Group to help furnish temporary housing for the families. Her organization provides donated furnishings and household goods for formerly homeless people in their first apartments.

Sleeman said the Hossain-Miu family were able to meet her at the warehouse she keeps the furniture in and they were able to entirely furnish their temporary apartment and move in the next day.

“By the end of the day they were all moved it and they kind of had this whole new beginning and a new start,” Sleeman said. “It was really incredible.”

As of Sept. 21, Miu’s fundraiser has raised $52,520 to help his sister’s family while the Jodi and Joanna Group fundraiser has raised $50,867.

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There had been some worry for families affected by Ida in the immediate aftermath of the storm because FEMA had not included Essex County in their initial Major Disaster Declaration. At first, only Bergen, Passaic, Middlesex, Somerset, Gloucester and Hunterson counties had received declarations from the White House.

Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo expressed disappointment that the county was left out of the declaration.

“The storm was indiscriminate in how it destroyed businesses and residences, flooded entire downtown areas, buckled roads and took lives,” he said in a statement.

The Hossain-Miu's Millburn home was devastated by Hurricane Ida. The rushing waters from the overflowing Rahway River completely submerged the home's basement and there was waist-high water in the rest of the home. The family lost everything. They moved into temporary housing.

DiVincenzo said the losses faced by home and business owners in the county “should not be overlooked.”

“We don’t deserve to be forgotten by FEMA,” he added.

A few days later after the first declaration, Essex, Hudson, Mercer, Warren and Union counties were included, giving them access to federal assistance.

The declaration allows for assistance with things like grants for temporary housing and home repairs, among other things that will help residents and business owners in the aftermath of Ida. 

Kaitlyn Kanzler covers Essex County for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: kanzler@northjersey.com

Twitter: @KaitlynKanzler8