When Congress approved $9.7 billion for flood insurance claims from Superstorm Sandy victims on Jan. 4, government and construction-industry officials from areas hardest hit by the powerful late-October hurricane viewed the vote as a positive move. But they also insisted that those funds need to be supplemented—and soon—by an additional $50 billion to rebuild damaged infrastructure and construct defenses against future natural disasters.
The $9.7-billion measure, which President Obama signed on Jan. 6, "is a good first step, but we need the remainder of the aid to be passed," says Lou Coletti, president and CEO of New York's Building Trades Employers' Association. He adds, "We've got major national contractors, large-scale contractors and smaller contractors who are performing all this work in the 'Rapid Repairs' program, and they need to be paid."