JONES URGES OBAMA TO REQUEST SANDY RELIEF FOR NC INLET DREDGING

“Repairing these waterways is vital to restoring economic activity and safe transportation on the North Carolina coast”
Dec 7, 2012 Issues: Energy Environment and Public Lands, FEMA and Natural Disasters

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) urged President Barack Obama not to forget the damage to North Carolina’s coastal inlets caused by Hurricane Sandy.  The Obama administration is putting together a funding request to address damage caused by the storm that it will soon submit to Congress.  In a letter sent to the president today, Congressman Jones called on the administration to include funding in that request to repair the North Carolina inlets damaged by Sandy. Congress must then approve the request before the funding can become available.  

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers –Wilmington District has determined that Hurricane Sandy caused over $30 million in damage to North Carolina’s coastal inlets.  These damages include:

  • Morehead City Harbor – $6 million
  • Hatteras Ferry Channel – $2 million
  • Ocracoke Ferry Channel – $600,000
  • Manteo Shallowbag Bay (Oregon Inlet) – $9 million
  • Rodanthe Emergency Ferry Channel – $150,000
  • Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway – $3 million
  • Beaufort Harbor – $150,000, and
  • the waterway connecting Pamlico Sound to Beaufort Harbor (including Wainwright Slough, Atlantic Harbor, and Taylor Creek) – $500,000

“I strongly urge the president to include in his request funding to repair North Carolina’s coastal inlets to their pre-Sandy condition,” said Congressman Jones.  “Fishermen, passenger ferries and boaters use these waterways on a daily basis. Repairing them is vital to restoring economic activity and safe transportation on the North Carolina coast.” 

A copy of Jones’ letter to the President can be viewed below.

 

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