Sandy cost NYC $19bn: Mayor

2012-11-26 22:59

(Supplied)

New York - Superstorm Sandy ran up a super bill of $19 billion as it tore through New York City, the mayor, Michael Bloomberg, said in an appeal for extra federal funds on Monday.

He said America's biggest city "will struggle to recover in the long term unless expedited federal funding is supplied."

The hurricane on 29 October flooded the subway train system, damaged tens of thousands of houses in the New York area, knocked out electricity in swaths of the city for days and prompted severe fuel shortages.

Among the storm's prominent victims was the Statue of Liberty, which had only just reopened after a year's refurbishments and is now to be closed again for at least the remainder of 2012.

The National Park Service said on its website that "a projected reopening date has not yet been established."

According to the mayor, the net repair bill from the hurricane-strength storm falls to $9.8bn once private insurance and already pledged Federal Emergency Management Agency aid are factored in.

But "federal legislative action will be required to address the budget gap that will result once available Fema funds and insurance proceeds are drawn down," he said.

"This funding will be needed to address the significant local expenses that have been and will be incurred, including costs that are ineligible under Fema such as hazard mitigation, long-term housing solutions and shoreline restoration and protection."

- SAPA