DeLauro Statement on Necessity of Aid for Hurricane Sandy Victims

WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) releasedthe following statement today on the need to ensure continued aid for victimsof Hurricane Sandy. The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and WaterDevelopment, which funds the Army Corps of Engineers, held a hearing on thetopic and DeLauro placed her statement into the official record of thathearing.

"Hurricane Sandy is one of the most severe storms to hitConnecticut in our state's history. According to the Army Corps, waterlevels at the Stamford Hurricane Barrier exceeded all recorded storms, datingback to 1893. Connecticut endured catastrophic coastal flooding and damagingwinds, in some areas surpassing the coastal damage levels of the Hurricane of1938.

"Sandy caused $355 million of significant damage across ourstate, with concentrated damage to our coastal communities – compounding damagethat previously occurred during Hurricane Irene and Winter Storm Alfred.

"I have seen firsthand the damage that resulted from thesurge. The City of Milford, a shoreline community with areas bookended by theLong Island Sound and marshes, had over 1,000 structures damaged. In East Havenand West Haven, the storm surge reached further inland than it ever has, and atremendous amount of sand and sediment was displaced.

"Chicks, a popular shoreline eatery in West Haven, used tohave a beach protecting it from the Sound. Now it sits exposed. So too are adozen residential communities, such as Cosey Beach and Morgan Point in EastHaven, Savin Rock in West Haven, most of all 17 miles of the Milford Shoreline,and Lordship in Stratford.

"In total, our state suffered over a billion dollars indamages from these three storms. Every coastal town in my district requiresArmy Corps assistance, including beach replenishment and repairs to sea walls.Near the historic Lighthouse Park in New Haven, residents of Morris Cove are indire need of the protection a seawall would offer from shoreline erosion.

"After Irene and Sandy, the shipping channels at the Port ofNew Haven have also been significantly degraded. They need 800,000 cubic yardsof sediment dredged to restore them to their federally authorized depth andwidth. The Housatonic River, which also supports significant boattraffic, is also in need of substantial dredging following these disasters.

"As new channels have been carved inland by Sandy's surge,one of our primary concerns is how our newly reshaped shoreline will respond tofuture flooding incidents. Preliminary depth readings indicate that the MilfordHarbor could require further disaster assistance from the Army Corps ofEngineers to remove the debris left behind and replenish any sand that may bemissing.

"In closing, I would like to highlight that this is thefifth major disaster that my state has experienced since 2010, and that we canonly expect more extreme weather events in the years to come, as the effects ofclimate change become more pronounced.

"So I urge my colleagues to fully support the Army Corps'sability to respond to and meet the needs of our Connecticut coastalcommunities. Our commitment to public safety, disaster relief, and to all ofthe families affected by Sandy must not waver.