WASHINGTON, D.C. - Thirteen U.S. senators, including Joe Manchin and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, have requested additional federal aid for the recovery from Superstorm Sandy.
The senators from states impacted by the massive storm have asked President Obama to provide additional emergency aid for federal disaster assistance programs and to take swift action so the necessary funds can be used to help victims of Sandy rebuild and recover.
The senators also requested an increased federal share for recovery costs.
"Unfortunately, this is the kind of storm that will take months to recover from, and I know the people in our great state, as well as up and down the East Coast, would appreciate the president adding additional funds for assistance in the 2013 budget to help us rebuild our homes, businesses and communities back to normal," Manchin said.
Senators requesting the aid were Manchin, Rockefeller, Frank R. Lautenberg and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Tom Carper and Christopher Coons of Delaware, Richard Blumenthal and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
"West Virginia has seen the impact of a number of severe storms so far this year," Rockefeller said. "The wake of these storms has left families without power or water for days if not weeks, and for some it has left them homeless."
The storm impacted the East Coast and eastern and southern West Virginia, causing snowfalls of several feet and disrupting power to hundreds of thousands of people in West Virginia and millions across the Eastern Seaboard.
Senators from the states impacted by the storm have asked the administration for a budget amendment to provide the necessary funding for aid.
"Because the storm caused sweeping damage in a variety of ways, the federal response should be comprehensive and include support from multiple programs at different agencies." the letter said.
In addition to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Disaster Relief Fund, the senators are requesting funding for disaster relief programs at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Economic Development Administration, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Small Business Administration.
