U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten E. Gillibrand today announced $6,679,908.58 in federal funds for the City of Long Beach to cover costs associated with hazardous debris removal in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. This work was undertaken after the storm deposited over 150,000 cubic yards of sand and other debris across Long Beach roads. The funds, which come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), cover 90% of costs.
“Long Beach was extremely hard hit by Hurricane Sandy, and forcing residents to pay expensive cleanup costs would be adding insult to injury,” said Schumer. “These federal funds will go a long way towards ensuring that Long Beach does not have to foot the bill for storm cleanup, and instead can continue to get back up on its feet.”
“This federal funding will provide much needed relief for Long Island families and businesses impacted by Superstorm Sandy,” said Gillibrand. “It is critical that Long Beach has the necessary resources on the ground to recover and rebuild.”
“Following Superstorm Sandy, this City administration was responsible for managing a monumental sand and debris removal procedure,” said Scott J. Mandel, Long Beach City Council President. “We thank Senators Schumer and Gillibrand for cutting through the bureaucracy and expediting the reimbursement process. The federal funding that we will now receive covers significant costs we incurred and is another important step towards rebuilding stronger, smarter, and safer.”
Superstorm Sandy brought strong winds and heavy rains to the New York tri-state area, resulting in downed trees, scattered vegetative debris and other materials strewn throughout busy roadways. Debris was deposited onto public rights of ways, streets, and public access areas throughout Long Beach that posed an immediate threat to public safety and therefore, needed to be removed. In total, the City of Long Beach removed 156,664.6 cubic yards of debris generated from Hurricane Sandy, and these FEMA funds will reimburse the city for the cost of cleanup of that debris.
In order to clean up the debris in a timely fashion, the City of Long Beach set up Temporary Disposal Staging and Reduction Sites (TDSRS) across the city as collection points for processing. The disaster debris collected at these sites was then eventually hauled to a final disposal site.
These federal funds are in addition to the $19,795,669 FEMA awarded the New York State Department of Transportation in July 2013 to reimburse them for the costs of collection, removal, and disposal of debris in Long Beach that resulted from Superstorm Sandy.