[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16435]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     IN RECOGNITION OF THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF HURRICANE SANDY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PETER T. KING

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 29, 2013

  Mr. KING of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise to reflect on the aftermath 
of Hurricane Sandy, which made landfall one year ago.
   Super Storm Sandy was the second largest natural disaster in our 
nation's history and the second costliest. New York State alone 
incurred $32.8 billion in damage, $8.4 billion of which was on Long 
Island. 305,000 homes and 265,300 businesses in the state were damaged 
or destroyed. While these numbers are shocking, they don't begin to 
tell the story of the suffering my constituents experienced.
   This devastation was exacerbated by the failure of Congress to 
provide immediate aid to the affected communities. The Northeast was 
forced to wait more than three months for a federal aid package, 
thereby delaying the region's recovery. Fortunately, this assistance is 
beginning to flow and communities are in the process of rebuilding.
   While we have made progress, the road to recovery remains long and 
difficult. Thousands of New York and New Jersey residents are still 
displaced and others are living in partially repaired homes. 
Infrastructure throughout the region awaits repair and needs to be 
hardened. I am confident that with the continued commitment of state 
and federal partners, our communities will rebound and come out 
stronger than ever.

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