Napolitano visits storm-hit Staten Island

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano visited New York City's Staten Island Sunday to survey relief efforts and cleanup progress.

Sunday marked Napolitano's second trip to Staten Island since it was ravaged by Superstorm Sandy, CNN reported.

Since the storm hit the East Coast, Napolitano has been hopping from city to city, surveying damage.

Staten Island residents Sunday kept cleaning up their properties while New York City hosted its annual Veterans Day Parade in Manhattan. The parade was the city's first mass event since the storm hit.

Meanwhile, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Saturday it has approved more than $411 million for victims of Hurricane Sandy, which battered the U.S. Northeast.

By 3 p.m. Saturday, more than 356,000 people in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey had registered for housing and other assistance, FEMA said in a release.

"FEMA's focus remains on helping the survivors of Hurricane Sandy in a number of different ways," FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said.

With electrical power still not restored to all those affected by the megastorm,, FEMA said President Obama approved an extension to the 100 percent cost-share for emergency work performed by state, tribal and local governments through Nov. 14. Total funding was originally to last 10 days, starting Oct. 31, for work performed to restore emergency power and emergency public transportation assistance.

The Los Angeles Times said under 300,000 homes in New York, New Jersey and West Virginia were without power as of Saturday morning.

Other emergency work public assistance remain at a 75 percent cost-share.

FEMA said the federal Departments of Defense, Transportation and Energy and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were still helping with power restoration and fuel shortage issues.

FEMA also is providing food, water, blankets, generators and others resources across the region impacted by Sandy.

The agency noted the federal government has provided hundreds of generators and millions of gallons to the region affected by the storm.

The president declared major disasters exist in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island, with emergency declarations made in Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and West Virginia.

The U.S. Small Business Administration said businesses with physical damages or loss of revenue apply for an SBA disaster business loan. As of Saturday, the SBA has issued 248,094 disaster loan applications to residents and businesses in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.