More N.J. resources bound for Texas to aid in recovery

New Jersey is providing more manpower and supplies to help with the emergency response to flooding in Texas caused by Tropical Storm Harvey.

Two Blackhawk helicopters and some National Guard members with experience in Superstorm Sandy recovery efforts are going to Texas, said New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. An additional 3,500 National Guard troops could be deployed if necessary.

New Jersey will do anything Texas officials need, Christie said.

“Our Department of Corrections is sending over 3,000 blankets to folks in Texas for their sheltering needs. So, we’re trying to address it on every avenue that we can,” he said. “Send help, and make sure that we’re doing it in an organized way so that it just doesn’t get down there and sit, but that it can actually be utilized by folks who are in need.”

Utility companies in the Garden State are making sure crews are ready to go to Texas to help restore power.

And Christie is calling on Congress to quickly approve disaster relief funds for Texas.

“I think anybody who’s in public office who’s going to have an impact on all of this, they need to put their politics aside, and they need to do their job — which is to get these people help as quickly as they possibly can.

“Katrina, it only took six days for them to vote an aid bill, 10 days in Hurricane Andrew,” Christie said. “It took 66 days after Sandy … that’s unacceptable.”