Feds give $102M in storm prevention to 11 states
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Eleven states in the eastern U.S. will share $102.7 million in grants from the federal government to protect against future storms, with the greatest amount of funded projects in New Jersey and New York.
The U.S. Department of the Interior's Hurricane Sandy Coastal Resilience Grant Program will fund a variety of projects to protect communities at risk from future big storms like the October 2012 event that pummeled the East Coast.
The money comes from a Sandy relief bill passed by Congress.
"We know we have a lot to learn from Mother Nature," Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said today. "Climate change is going to make weather events more frequent and more severe."
She said natural infrastructure like wetlands and dunes provide the best protection against storms.
The Interior department said the projects will restore an estimated 6,634 acres of wetlands and marshes; 225 acres of beach; 364 acres of tidal buffers, and 16 miles of streams. The efforts will also open 287 miles of streams to fish passage, and restore 147 acres of flood plains.