Photo: Port Authority of New York and New JerseyThe Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will receive $229.6 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help repair damage to the Holland Tunnel caused by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, nj.com reports. The funds, which come from a FEMA program designed to strengthen public works after a major disaster in order to reduce future losses, will pay 90 percent of the $255 million needed to repair 22 areas in the tunnel that were flooded during the storm.
U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) announced the funding. Booker said the repairs would make the tunnel “more resilient in the face of future disasters.”
“This welcome investment from FEMA will help advance critically needed repairs and ensure that New Jersey’s infrastructure emerges safer and stronger than ever before,” Menendez said, according to the news agency.
During the storm, water came in from the New Jersey side and through the exhaust air duct system, flooding both the north and south tubes of the tunnel. The tunnel was closed for several days following the hurricane.
In February, the Port Authority agreed to spend $7 million to draft plans to repair the damage in the tunnel.
