Robert Torricelli: “Hurricane Floyd is still a reality for many communities around our country. Towns such as Bound Brook, NJ--and, as…”

“Hurricane Floyd is still a reality for many communities around our country. Towns such as Bound Brook, NJ--and, as indeed Mr. Edwards pointed out, Princeville, NC--Florida to Maine, Hurricane Floyd left a path of destruction so large that FEMA declared it to be the eighth worst disaster of the decade. In New Jersey by comparison, it was worse: Two-hundred and fifty-three municipalities in New Jersey, the populations of 4.2 million people, were stricken. More than 43,000 structures, including homes, schools, and businesses, suffered severe damage. Over 20,000 residents of New Jersey alone applied for Federal assistance, and municipalities submitted over 2,000 requests for public assistance to remove debris or to repair damages. While FEMA has led an effort of providing assistance to homeowners, the greatest problem is how to rebuild their own economic infrastructure. Bound Brook, NJ, alone, a community that was entirely inundated by this flooding, lost 7 percent of its annual revenue and 37 percent of its property value. A month after Floyd, the New Jersey government appropriated $80 million for disaster relief.”