By Dari Kotzker
NJ Today
The storm-ravaged Perth Amboy waterfront was one of many stops on today’s Assembly members’ tour of Middlesex and Monmouth County towns affected by Hurricane Sandy. Perth Amboy was hit hard by a storm surge with boats destroyed, major flooding and tons of wind damage.
“This was a major attraction for this city, contributed to economic health of this city and it’s been literally wiped away,” said Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver. “I think that, in terms, of how we leverage relief and if we’re going to come to some consensus about creating some funding to be able to support these families, it’s giving us a sense of what needs to be prioritized.”
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By seeing these first-hand accounts of the damage, this experience will be important when dealing with ongoing financial talks and legislation related to the storm.
Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz said, “We do need help, the municipalities, we can’t do this by ourselves, there’s an estimated cost of $10 million in repairs that have to be made to historic city waterfront.”
“When you’re out here to see all of this and see all the damage in total, you can be more much more effective in the debate in terms of why it’s important to spend that money to get all of the areas back to normal,” said Assemblyman Scott Rumana (R-40).
Perth Amboy resident Christopher Lloyd owns a house on the waterfront. He says he’s still waiting to find out from insurance adjusters what next steps to take.
“I don’t know whether I should rebuild or not, I really don’t,” he said tearfully. “It’s a tough decision, anybody in their right mind would say why are you going to rebuild it; but at the same time this view is what brought me here and what is is probably going to keep me here.”
When she’s on these tours talking to families and business owners about the challenges facing them, the assembly speaker says they tell her that their greatest fear “is that New Jerseyans will forget about them,” but she promised that “they will not be forgotten.”