New Jersey will be getting more than $200 million in federal funds to help communities that were ravaged by Hurricane Ida last year. The state is now asking those communities for help in deciding where the money will go.

One such public hearing was held in Manville Thursday night. The town was one of the worst hit by the storm.

“My kids are too scared to go back. We live near a brook. It doesn’t matter if we elevate our house. The trauma is there,” said one resident.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is providing more than $228 million to parts of the state hit hardest by Ida.

Some people in Manville are still homeless a year after the storm.

“I don’t have a home anymore. I don’t have my things. I don’t feel like a person anymore,” said another resident.

Some residents say that they are angry that it has taken so long to disperse the funds.

The $228 million will be divided into 11 different categories for housing, public services, planning, infrastructure and administration. Eighty percent of those funds must be spent in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Passaic, Somerset and Union counties.

"We did an assessment of the damage after the storm. It was the first time the bureau undertook a substantial damage calculation on each home in the floodplain,” says Manville Mayor Richard Onderko. “We had over 200 homes substantially damaged, and I think that sends a message to our state and our officials and our federal officials that Manville is going to need a good chunk of that money.”

New Jersey residents can submit their comments regarding the funds to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

There will be another public hearing this coming Monday in Newark where people can give their comments in person. The public comment period runs through Sept. 16 and those comments are due to HUD on Sept. 28. HUD has 60 days to approve the plans.