Christie highlights Sandy recovery successes, challenges in State of the State address

“We are a long way from the finish line, but we are a long way from where we were one year ago,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said today in his State of the State address, referring to the ongoing Superstorm Sandy recovery. 

The following is the entirety of Christie’s Superstorm Sandy comments: 

A year ago this afternoon, our state was in recovery from a challenge not of our own making.

Superstorm Sandy devastated New Jersey in the fall of 2012 – flooding our homes, turning off our power and destroying our roads. Despite the magnitude and devastation of the storm, Sandy could not break out spirit.

This past summer, most businesses at the Shore opened on time. Boardwalks were rebuilt. The crowds came back. And schools that had been damaged were re-opened.

Today, about nine months after the first phase of CDBG disaster recovery funds started flowing in New Jersey, nearly $900 million – more than two-thirds of the funds for housing recovery programs are out the door or in the pipeline.

From the very beginning, the priority was putting those with the greatest needs and with the most limited financial resources at the front of the line. Of the nearly half of the housing money that has been obligated so far, 72.9 percent has been awarded to low- and middle-income families.

The bottom line is this: we are a long way from the finish line, but we are a long way from where we were one year ago. Challenges remain and I will not rest until every person hurt by Sandy has their life back. That is my mission.

I want to thank this Legislature, and all New Jerseyans, for the cooperative, bipartisan and resilient spirit you demonstrated in coming back from Sandy. Let that spirit of Sandy be a powerful lesson to all of us, that when times are most difficult, cooperation and progress are possible. Indeed, they are necessary.

What’s your opinion of Christie’s recovery assessment?