ResilienceCoast Guard, National Guard units in N.J. still dealing with Sandy’s damage

The 2012 Superstorm Sandy dealt a blow to the U.S. Coast Guard and National Guard units stationed along New Jersey’s shores. Today, the USCGC Sailfish, an 87-foot patrol boat, is temporarily based out of Bayonne, New York, unable to return to its berth at Sandy Hook, where the storm caused $50 million in damage to Coast Guard facilities. Further along the Jersey shore, the National Guard is dealing with over $40 million in damage to Army and Air Force facilities.

In September, the Coast Guard will decide on bids to repair its Sandy Hook station. Charles Rowe, a spokesman for the Coast Guard’s Sector New York, toldthe Star-Ledger that four separate but related projects under one contract include the construction of a new multi-mission building, the waterfront dredging and installing new piers to accommodate the Sailfish and a second cutter assigned to the shore before the hurricane struck, construction of an 18,600-square-foot boat maintenance facility, and a small arms firing range. Construction time will vary for each project, but “bottom line is that we’ve allocated — start to finish once the contract is formally awarded — up to four years, Rowe said.

Insurance Journal reports that 4,837 of the New Jersey National Guard’s 8,300 personnel were activated during the storm, incurring $8.2 million in mobilization costs during the state of emergency declared. Officials report that $5.3 million was spent on active duty pay during the ten-week mobilization, $1.1 million was spent on feeding the troops, ground and air transportation expenses totaled $858,242, and the General Services Administration spent $712,242 for portable toilets, and washers and dryers. Chief Warrant Officer Patrick Daugherty, a spokesman for the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs reported that the cost of mobilizing the National Guard was beyond the Guard’s available funding, which resulted in some vendors receiving payments for their services later than expected.

National Guard facilities around New Jersey also sustained more than $35 million in storm damage. “A lot of that damage occurred at Sea Girt, where the water flooded several structures with about 5 feet of ocean water,” Daugherty said. “The site’s medical clinic suffered significant damage and the loss of medical equipment.” Federal funds have provided military construction assistance for majority of the repairs needed on National Guard facilities, many of which have been restored or close to completion.