State lawmakers learned last night that Superstorm Sandy not only punished the Jersey Shore. Big cities up north also felt her punch.

Members of the environmental committees of the state Senate and Assembly, meeting jointly in Jersey City, heard that the state’s second-largest city suffered damage to 6,100 residential housing units (mostly not covered by basic insurance) and 15 high-rise office buildings. The waterfront was flooded and damage to city properties totaled $22 million.

Jersey City Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security Director Greg Kierce said the storm highlighted the need for better evacuation procedures, better communication — especially with non-English speakers — and more communication between agencies to coordinate relief efforts

But in the end, there are some things that simply can’t be changed. “I still haven’t found out how you can elevate a brownstone,” he said, referring to the building elevation requirements on FEMA’s new flood maps.

NJ Spotlight’s Scott Gurion covered the hearing and filed this story: North Jersey Still Struggling to Recover from Hurricane Sandy 

It was the second meeting held by the twin committees on the state’s recovery efforts. EnviroPolitics attended the first meeting in Atlantic City in August. See our stories and videos here and here. 

If you or your organization testified last night and did not make it into the NJSpotlight story, send us a link to your testimony and we may use it in an update to this post.

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