Governor Chris Christie estimates damage from Sandy costing at $29.4B
November 23,2012
the staff of the ridgewood blog
Ridgewood Nj ,Governor Chris Christie estimates it will cost an estimated $29.4 billion to pay for all of the damage that superstorm Sandy caused across the state . This figure includes making up for revenues lost by businesses and rebuilding the state’s transportation and utility systems. This comes after New York state officials estimated the storm’s damage there at $33 billion.
In a statement Christie issued late Friday the Governor said he plans to press the federal government for funds to help pay for the losses .“I stand ready to work with our congressional delegation and the Obama administration to get the funding support New Jersey expects and deserves in the aftermath of this catastrophe,”
Christie also said the storm’s impact on the state’s $38 billion-a-year tourism industry was still being measured and that the cost estimate is “preliminary,” and may increase “in the weeks ahead.
Christie has said he expects Sandy to be the second-most expensive storm in U.S. history, ranking just behind Hurricane Katrina, which caused $81 billion in damage in 2005. Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Friday an estimate for Sandy’s total cost in all of the states affected was not yet available.