WASHINGTON — In the after­math of Hurricane Sandy, some who lost their homes or businesses have turned to crowd-funding websites to elicit a faster and more direct ­response than they could ­expect from the government or traditional charities.

While Congress considers a $60 billion disaster aid package for the storm victims, hundreds of them got quicker results by creating personalized fund-raising campaigns on ­sites like GoFundMe, IndieGoGo, and HelpersUnite.