US Strong in Point Pleasant to Build Support for Extreme Weather Relief & Protection

It’s been almost one year since Sandy’s landfall. While it feels like a lot has changed—there are some things that haven’t changed at all. New Jerseyans have done an impressive job rebuilding—but we are still stuck in the same ad hoc disaster-by-disaster relief system that left New Jersey waiting for more than 90 days for the approval of relief money.

It’s a timely reminder as we come up to the anniversary of Superstorm Sandy.

That’s why US Strong is working for an Extreme Weather Relief and Protection Fund. The Fund would provide dedicated money that Congress couldn’t withhold or play politics with to build the protections we need today and provide immediate relief when the next storm hits. We’ve learned just how devastating our new climate can be. Without new protections—we’ll once again be left unprepared.

Sandy looms large in our thoughts and memories—for obvious reasons. But it’s dangerous to think of superstorms as one-time events. Damaging storms have been on the rise in New Jersey before Sandy. In the last 5 years, New Jersey has been inundated by 6 major storms.

It’s a new reality that is having a big impact on communities all across the country. Drought is hurting crops and businesses everywhere, forest fires are raging out of control across the west, and hurricane season is in its peak phase here on the east coast. Experts have made it clear that we need to prepare for extreme weather, including more frequent and severe storms in the future. 

We know that effective measures exist today to protect our homes, businesses and communities from future disasters. Prevention is less costly, creates good jobs, and saves lives. Recent studies prove that for every $1 dollar spent to prevent devastation from storms, saves $9 of clean up and recovery costs.

An Extreme Weather and Relief Fund is a solution that’s time has come.

To work, it would have to raise revenue fairly so we don’t hurt middle class taxpayers or small businesses. The fund should not burden working families and businesses with increased property income and corporate business taxes. Instead, there should be a financial cost to the pollution that is fueling this extreme weather. 

US Strong is out talking with people in Point Pleasant about what our elected officials should be doing to make sure that Point Pleasant is protected against the next big storm. 

We can’t another year go while our communities are still unprotected with the same old plans and thinking.