Tropical Storm Irene slammed into New Jersey with high winds and heavy rains a year ago today. Recovery efforts began almost immediately, but there’s still more work to be done.

She may not have been an official hurricane by the time she made it to New Jersey, but Irene was definitely a disaster, leaving 11 people dead and a billion dollars in damage.

Bill Vogel has been coordinating the federal government’s recovery efforts in New Jersey. He says FEMA has given out hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to towns, homeowners and small businesses over the last year.

“The work that is remaining will certainly in many cases, it’ll take months or in some cases even years to complete some of those big jobs.”

FEMA has also been working with state and local governments to buy out more than 500 homes in flood-prone areas. The state expects to close on many of these properties by the end of the year.