Sandy NOAA.JPG

Hurricane Sandy is seen here as a satellite image made by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A nonprofit group is calling for the creation of a federal fund dedicated to dealing with the aftermath of extreme weather events.

(NOAA)

Congress should set up a severe weather fund to help in the aftermath of severe storms in light of the number of increasing extreme weather events, a non-profit initiative concluded in a report released today.



Traditional sources of emergency aid are no longer reliable because of the frequency of severe weather events and because of the potential for political logjams like the one that stalled aid to the Northeast for more than two months after Hurricane Sandy, the group, US Strong, said.



US Strong, an initiative focusing on protecting communities from extreme weather, said that although state officials have estimated Hurricane Sandy caused $37 billion in damage in New Jersey, there are still billions of uncalculated costs from the storm.



"In short, we can expect Sandy's price tag in New Jersey — already billions of dollars higher than initially believed — to be billions of dollars higher yet. Without Congressional action, these costs will be paid by individuals, businesses and municipalities," according to the report, called 'Extreme Weather, Extreme Costs, The True Financial Impact of Superstorm Sandy on New Jersey Homeowners, Businesses and Municipalities.'



The estimated damages don't take into account other costs such as insurance deductibles, higher future insurance premiums, construction-related costs, legal fees and undiscovered environmental damage, according to the report. Future economic losses also weren't factored into the estimation, it said. That was most evident, the report said, in last month's fire on the boardwalk in Seaside Park and Seaside Heights, where 50 businesses were destroyed.



Investigators partially attributed the electrical fire to the wiring damaged by Sandy. Because of that Gov. Chris Christie rerouted $15 million of New Jersey's Sandy aid to the boardwalk businesses. And because of that, many businesses will incur expenses having their electrical wiring inspected for damage.



People dipping into their nest eggs to finance recovery costs could impact future economic consequences, as would businesses slow to recover, if at all, according to the report.

The storm calculations also didn't take into consideration that tourism is expected to drop by $1 billion in the third quarter of 2013, the most active time for the Jersey Shore. And the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force created by Christie estimates the New York/New Jersey region lost between $30 and $50 billion in economic activity after the storm through power outages, fuel shortages, and the virtual shutdown of the transportation system in the region.



A fund dedicated to severe weather would be accessible for distribution more quickly than a Congressional aid package, the report said, noting the more than two months it took Congress to pass a disaster recovery bill because of political wrangling. All revenue streams should be taken into consideration for the fund to avoid burdening a particular socio-economic class, the report recommended. That should also include placing a "financial cost" on more carbon emissions, it said.



"Americans are paying for extreme weather with their lives, pocketbooks

and their livelihoods," the report said. "Disaster after disaster, federal agencies and others have offered new planning guides and platitudes, but the pace of change has not kept up with the new extreme weather 'normal.'"



Although New Jersey is receiving billions in federal disaster recovery aid, there is still a gap of between $8 billion and $13 billion not covered by insurance or federal aid, the report said. Charities and religious organizations can't close that gap, it said.



New Jersey is set to receive between $20 and $25 billion of the $50 billion federal Sandy aid package for the northeast region approved in January. By June, insurance companies had paid $3.4 billion in claims.



The 32-page report takes a swipe at the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force by saying says it proposed 69 recommendations to prepare against future severe storms but that it doesn't recommend a way to fund those proposals or that or the billions in uncovered costs.





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