STATEN ISLAND, NY – March 5, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — The chair of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., today convened a field hearing to examine Hurricane Sandy rebuilding efforts. Held at the U.S. Coast Guard’s facility on Staten Island, one of the hardest-hit areas during the storm, Sen. Landrieu heard testimony from U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force Executive Director Laurel Blatchford and local officials from New York and New Jersey.
Sen. Landrieu helped lead the effort in Congress to craft and pass the Sandy aid bill, which provided $50.5 billion in recovery funding and-just as importantly-reforms that incorporated lessons learned during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to improve the country’s disaster recovery laws. Today’s hearing examined how these reforms are being implemented and what is still needed to help the East Coast recover.
“This recovery should be about building the future, not rebuilding the past. To achieve this, we must make sure that communities and their local leaders are receiving the funds and assistance they need from the federal government to recover and rebuild stronger and smarter than before,” Sen. Landrieu said in her opening statement. “Citizens along the Gulf Coast struggled to navigate the maze of the federal bureaucracy as families waited, neighborhoods atrophied and hope dissipated-all because shortsighted and ineffective federal programs were not designed to support recovery from a catastrophic event. This cannot-and will not-happen again.”
During the hearing, Sen. Landrieu heard examples from Hurricane Sandy that underscored her constant call and warning that underinvesting in the Army Corps of Engineers flood protection budget has real-world, costly consequences for victims and taxpayers. Long Beach Township, N.J., Mayor Joseph Mancini explained that an incomplete beach fortification project, approved by Congress 13 years ago, has received less than a quarter of the funding needed to complete the project. Had the project been funded and completed before Sandy struck, Mayor Mancini testified that hundreds of millions in damages could have been prevented.
Sen. Landrieu continued: “It’s about mitigating against these powerful storms that are going to come. That means building stronger levees, constructing sand dunes and smartly engineering our buildings with stronger materials that protect communities during storms and save taxpayer money. Without making real investments in these type of projects, it’s going to be more and more expensive and more and more painful to recover.”
New York City Housing Recovery Operations Director Brad Gair stated that the federal government should expand its efforts to repair existing homes and make them livable again, instead of accommodating survivors for prolonged periods of time in costly temporary housing. Sen. Landrieu promised to work with him on this effort.
Sen. Landrieu, also the chair of the Senate Small Business Committee, committed today to press the Small Business Administration to be more efficient and effective in helping small businesses open their doors quickly after disasters.
“Although we’ve made a lot of progress since Hurricane Katrina in reforming the Small Business Administration, we have not made enough. It was a real disappointment today to learn about the ongoing arduous process business owners currently face,” Sen. Landrieu said. “Our small businesses are the heart and soul of our communities, and we should treat them as such. After disasters, some businesses don’t know if anybody is coming back. There’s literally no one there. So, when a gas station opens, it opens on faith. When that little bakery opens again, they are opening on faith that their neighbors will come back. There is no evidence around these small businesses owners that the recovery is going to happen. But they come back. Because they know that if they don’t come back, no one is coming back.”
Before today, Sen. Landrieu has convened two separate hearings to examine ongoing recovery efforts from Hurricane Sandy. On Dec. 5, as chair of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, she held a hearing on the tools and resources that impacted communities and states will need to rebuild. On Dec. 13, Sen. Landrieu held another hearing in her role as chair of the Small Business Committee on federal assistance to small businesses affected by Hurricane Sandy
