Back in 2012, Governor Chris Christie was praised for his leadership in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. He made numerous trips out to towns that fell victim to floods and near-hurricane force winds.

Greenwich Township Mayor George Shivery watched the action from across the state in a town that was, for the most part, spared from the famous storm.

Now, Shivery's own little corner of the state is in a crisis of its own and he along with other South Jersey officials are wondering why the governor hasn't been to the areas hardest hit by the storm.

"I think the governor should recognize the west coast of New Jersey as well as he did with the east coast of New Jersey," Shivery said.

Greenwich and neighboring East Greenwich Township were among the towns that saw the most damage in Tuesday's storm that left hundreds of thousands of residents without power. Shivery said they are looking at about $7.5 million in damage within the two municipalities.

"We were the first ones to get hit, and our power is still out," he said Friday morning. "He should have been down here on Wednesday."

Shivery was among a group of local officials to call for the governor to issue a disaster declaration so that federal funds could become available for storm relief.

In East Greenwich, Mayor Dale Archer said they have 14 homes and two businesses that were declared unsafe and have to be demolished due to the storm. Upwards of 2,800 trees were also uprooted and Archer said they are still counting.

Atlantic City Electric reported that more customers in their service area lost power from Tuesday's storm than during Sandy. Archer said his town is still 95 percent dark and he doesn't expect the power to be back until next week.

Archer has been frustrated by the state's response, calling it "unsatisfactory."

"We have more power outages during this 15 minute storm than we had during Sandy," he said. "To not get that attention here in South Jersey is disheartening."

Deputy Assembly Speaker John Burzichelli said while the damage was not as widespread as it was in Sandy, the feelings expressed by Archer and Shivery were understandable.

"I think it's a fair comparison," he said. "Our region of the state was largely spared from Sandy and we were very fortunate. But we were very supportive of those who were impacted and felt their pain from a distance.

"We're going on 72 hours and we have had no significant progress in restoration in East Greewich, Gibbstown and other pockets around the area."

As for the disaster declaration, Burzichellli said he and his third legislative district partners -- state senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assemblyman Adam Taliaferro -- have called for the governor to issue one. Their call would be for at least some of Gloucester County, if not all of it.

"We're waiting for it to happen and we think it should happen," he said.

Archer said he has been in contact with congressmen Frank Lobiondo and Donald Norcross.

"They have pledged support to release funds once the governor declares it a disaster area," he said. "We're going on day three and have not gotten a declaration from the governor as of yet."

At a press conference about the budget Friday, the governor was asked about the disaster declaration and said he expects most people to get their power back by the end of the day and that it doesn't look like there's a need for one.

"I'll have another call later today to get an update, but right now I'm being told 90 to 95 percent of those folks will be restored," he said. "So if an emergency declaration will help in any way, substantively, I'll be happy to do it, but until someone tells me that it will, there's no reason for me to just do form over substance here."

He added that FEMA is on the ground and he expects to have an answer regarding FEMA relief by Tuesday.

A representative from the governor's office said representatives for the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management have been out getting preliminary damage assessments and providing assistance in the region. Board of Public Utilities President Richard Mroz has also met with officials from local utilities companies to get updates on restoration.

Shivery still hopes Christie will find his way down to see the damage for himself and said he will be met with open arms.

"We were one of his first town hall meetings," he said. "The invitation is still out there. He can come to Gibbstown anytime."

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Alex Young may be reached at ayoung@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @AlexYoungSJT. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.