A month after Sandy devastated parts of the Connecticut coastline, the process of restoring the shore back to what it was continues.
“We're going to be here awhile. We're still working on recovery from the previous storms. This is not going to be a quick recovery either,” said Craig Fugate, the FEMA administrator working in Fairfield County.
So far, about 10,000 claims have been made with FEMA and about $9 million has been paid out to those who have filed claims. Officials are starting the process of rebuilding and trying to figure out how to build better structures as they move forward.
“That means at the household level, how to build safer, so that the next storm we get is less devastating, causes less economic damage to life and limb, but also thinking about rebuilding in smart ways,” said U.S. Rep. Jim Himes.
“Looking forward means avoiding the next catastrophe,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
It also means correcting the challenges that were faced during Sandy. Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch said the state and the city have to look at how they prioritize crews working on the ground.
“I think we forgot sometimes the poor people and the elderly people, because we didn't, I think reconnect their electricity as fast as we could have,” said Finch.
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“I think we have some of these longer term issues, this hardening of infrastructure that we're going to have to work on for months and years to come,” said Gov. Dannel Malloy.
