Except for some severe flooding, Hoboken came out of the storm fairly unscathed.
Severe flooding caused the NJ Transit station to shut down, and made parts of the city look like Venice. But hey, no big trees fell down, and the lights stayed on, so everything must by peachy.
The shopping list is long and varied: $43 billion for transportation projects, $19 billion in water projects, $21 billion for school modernization projects, $32 billion to fund a so-called smart electricity grid, $6 billion to bring high-speed Internet access to rural America and many, many more items that some call pork, others jobs.
According to Herb Jackson, New Jersey is looking at infrastructure dollars like:
$778 million for highway and bridge construction; at least $334 million for new buses, bus stations and other capital outlays; $150 million to upgrade NJ Transit rail; $237 million for loans to upgrade sewage treatment systems; $1.1 billion nationwide for Amtrak improvements.
But for some reason there's no dollars to offset flooding in New Jersey. Over the past decade New Jersey has been hammered by flooding, with the Delaware river causing major damage twice and central Jersey seeing massive devastation in 1999's Hurricane Floyd and 2007's Nor' Easter. The picture to the left is from 1999, and a motorcycle shop that was destroyed and had to move out of town.
In 1999 I was a Councilman in North Plainfield serving as the representative to the town's Office of Emergency Management. When I responded to the call due to flooding, they sent me out in a bucket truck to pull people from cars who had wandered in to the flood water. In North Plainfield, which has only some minor streams flitting through the town, we had six feet of water in the downtown. I was standing in that water, tied to the truck, pulling people out of their vehicles and taking them to safety.
In Green Brook their borough hall was destroyed. You can see the Bound Brook pictures above. Manville, South Bound Brook, Plainfield, Rahway, New Brunswick, Piscataway, Franklin, Cranford, etc, etc, all withstood major damage that could be prevented by a solid, well planned engineering project.
For Central NJ there's already a major plan in place to ameliorate the flooding from major storms along the Green Brook and Raritan River/canal. The Green Brook Flood Control Project is a fully planned, shovel ready effort that will save millions of dollars annually in insurance costs, lost business and government expenditures. It will save even more in damages when the next major storm runs through, damages that ran in the hundreds of millions between 1999 and 2007.
The entire project from Union County through Somerset County to part of Middlesex County would cost a total of $430 million. In 10 years it would save the residents, businesses and governments of the area that much.
However, the plan is not specifically listed in the stimulus package. The representative of this area, Leonard Lance, is a freshman and may not have had the juice to get it put in. He voted against the bill, as did every other Republican in the House.
It is, however, as vital a project to the physical and economic health of central Jersey as any other, and is ready to start work within a couple months. It is a non-partisan project, with massive support from people of all political persuasions.
But for some reason the funding has only come in to the project in dribs and drabs, never as a significant portion.
It's been almost 36 years since the 1973 flood that killed more than a dozen people. If we can't fund this project now when it meets all the requirements of the major stimulus package being considered -- immediate funding to put money in the economy, quick job creation to offset layoffs in other sectors, long-term infrastructure benefit to the state and country -- then we are totally missing the boat.
The New Jersey Can Spam Act advanced in the Senate yesterday. The bill would establish criminal and civil penalties for certain spam email-related activities, including prohibiting the use of a computer in Our Fair State to send multiple commercial spam and to mislead recipients or service providers about their origin.
Open Thread: What's on your minds today, Blue Jersey?
Camden is dearly in need of revitalization and city fixture Campbell's is in a position to provide it- if their wants are met. The NY Times has the story.
Many folks who had flood insurance are still waiting for their settlements from April's storms and are voicing anger at the National Flood Insurance Program, who says they're still in their 60-day payment window.
If you were unable to work due to the flooding and storms last month and were in a county eligble for federal disaster aid, you may qualify for Federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance.
He may be in pain from the accident, but Gov. Corzine's poll numbers didn't suffer: he has a 58 percent favorable opinion rating, up from 53 percent in March, according to a Fairleigh Dickinson PublicMind poll.
Open Thread Time! What do you want to talk about today, Blue Jersey?
After the recent New Jersey floods, we noted that Congressman Ferguson had bragged on his ability to bring $5 million in federal dollars last year to the Green Brook Flood Control project. We also noted that anyone who knows about the federal project run by the Army Corps of Engineers understands that $5 million is a drop in a$430 million bucket,. At the rate Mike Ferguson is "securing funds" it will take 83 years to complete the project and protect North Plainfield, Green Brook, Bound Brook, Manville, South Bound Brook and other communities along the Green Brook from disastrous and potentially deadly funding.
Now just a couple weeks after another horrendous flood that displaced hundreds of families and cost millions of dollars in damage, Mike Ferguson is able to use his 7 years of clout in the House of Representatives to get -- $10 million. And Ferguson admits that this is as much as he can get for his district, saying that someone else will have to do the job if it's going to get done.
Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-7th Dist.) said he hopes the $10 million represents "a floor" for fiscal 2008 funding. But with action in the House of Representatives uncertain, it may be up to the U.S. Senate to add money, he said.
It'll be up to someone else. Perfect attitude for a backbencher Congressman who hasn't the juice or the ability to lobby his colleagues to get what his people need.
Even worse is the attitude of the White House, which admits that they failed to help Bound Brook and Manville, who got the brunt of the flooding in 1996, 1999 and 2007.
The Army Corps of Engineers could complete flood barriers around Bound Brook in two years if funding is "accelerated," according to Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Woodley Jr., who oversees the agency. ...
Prodded by Congress, President Bush has proposed $10 million for flood control in the Green Brook Basin, which includes Bound Brook. But Corps and local officials said roughly $30 million is needed to complete a mile of flood barriers along the Raritan River, which again inundated the downtown during the April 15 nor'easter.
"I've submitted the president's budget and that's what I stand by," said Woodley, whose office directs the Army's civil works projects. But he acknowledged that funding level means work would not be finished for an estimated three years.
So one small portion of the project -- $30 million or 6 percent of the $430 million cost -- could be completed in two years, and the White House is not willing to provide the funding for it. And they admit that "stand by" that decision which could once again cost the federal government far more if their is yet another flood.
And Mike Ferguson can't convince them to put the whole $30 million in the budget to get the work done. He can't convince his colleagues of seven years to provide this funding.
If he can't get this kind of support while pictures are still in the paper, families are still living in shelters and businesses are months from re-opening then how can we expect Ferguson to adequately represent us in Congress?
President Bush signed a disaster declaration for Bergen, Burlington, Essex, Passaic, Somerset, and Union counties. Families and businesses in those areas affected by the flooding can now receive help from FEMA (insert joke here).
Acting Governor Codey had requested that the entire state be declared a disaster area and our federal representatives are still urging the President to expand the declaration.
Congressman Rothman, who's district includes Bergen and Passaic counties is ready to help constituents wade through the red tape:
"This declaration is good news for those most severely impacted by the flooding and I thank the President for his action. While it must be expanded to include more counties, I encourage my constituents and small businesses in our district now eligible for this federal aid to contact my office for help. Caseworkers are available to guide you through the application process for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and identify local counseling resources. We can also help move your application along if you are eligible for aid, but find FEMA is unresponsive," said Rothman.
Constituents can call his office at (201) 646-0808 or visit the online resource center on his website for more information.
This week's flooding provides a window into the relative effectiveness of Congressman Mike Ferguson to advocate and deliver for the people of New Jersey's 7th Congressional District.
The year before Ferguson took office Hurricane Floyd hit our state, and towns like Bound Brook and Manville were devastated, with water rising to third stories of buildings and not falling for days. Other towns like North Plainfield - where I served as a Councilman at the time - had six feet of water rushing through the town. I know because I was one of the volunteers pulling people out of their cars to safety that day.
Now, in Mike Ferguson's seventh year as our DC Representative we have seen another flood provide the same kind of destruction. Added to the 1996 flooding of downtown Bound Brook that is three devastating floods in just over a decade.
I looked at the pictures of boats floating past second floor windows in downtown Bound Brook and thought it was 1999 all over again. The personal and business destruction is horrific, and the worst part is that it should be wholly unnecessary had our federal representatives come through with the funding we need to fix these flooding issues.
Since 1975 the Green Brook Flood Control Project has been studying and planning to make major engineering changes to the Raritan River and its tributaries to increase flow and retention, reducing the chance that such flooding can occur again. But all we have to date is a bridge and two levies, and the Army Corps of engineers estimates it will take $430 million in today's money to finish the deal.
You would think that after Floyd there would have been a major effort to fund this project, to get it going as fast as possible to protect the residents and business owners along this flood path. You would think that there would be some urgency to the work to protect our residents from continued natural disasters.
Mike Ferguson was first elected in 2000, along with a Republican President, a Republican Senate and a Republican House. His colleague, Rodney Frelinghuysen on the neighboring 11th district, was on the House Appropriations committee. Ferguson himself was being groomed by Tom DeLay in a leadership position as minority whip, the Texas House wheeler and dealer who could get anything done.
Add to this the fact that under Republican leadership earmarked funding for districts increased from about 1,000 a year in 1996 to 14,000 in 2005. Some of these earmarks were incredible, including $454 million for a bridge in Alaska that would have served just a few thousand people.
It's an ideal environment for a Representative to represent the needs of his district. His party in control, friendly with leadership, delegation member on the Appropriations committee money handed out hand over fist, and a real desperate need for completion of a project that would affect hundreds of thousands of people. It would take a pretty high level of incompetence to blow this one.
So what did Mike Ferguson get us for the Green Brook Flood Control Project? An average of less than $5 million a year, and some press releases and photo opportunities for the Congressman to show he cares.
At that rate, the project would take 86 years to completely fund, not including inflation and cost overruns.
NJ Transit fares will be going up on June 1. The fare hike is needed to offset a $60 million deficit. Rates are going up almost 10% and the morning "peak" period will be shortened by 30 minutes.
Codey is touring the flood damage, and plans to request federal disaster aid. The Sierra Club says that development is contributing to flooding. Meanwhile, it's not over as the flood waters move downstream. Paterson has ordered evacuations.
Quinnipiac finds Corzine's approval ratings have gone up to 51%, a change attributed to his handling of taxes. The 91mph crash occurred duing the poll period and is not thought to haver had an effect on the results.
Protesters turned out to the state Department of Environmental Protection's changes to Smart Growth corridor in Salem County along I-295. They are supported by local officials.
The Delaware-New Jersey dispute over the DRBA, which operates the Delaware Memorial Bridge, was settled. There will be no toll increase this year, but there will probably be one in 2008 to fund capital projects. They limited growth in the budget to 1.5%, which is a rare feat in New Jersey.
Some think that the Atlantic City airport will grow. (Though 2005 and 2006 saw less usage than 2003 and 2004.)
More Inconvenient Truth
How high above sea level are the nuclear power plants at Oyster Creek and Salem?
What will happen to the nuclear plants if sea level rises 20 feet as projected by various global warming scenarios?
I don't know if Solar panels will work when submerged - but they are usually mounted on the roof - and they work even when the basement is flooded. And a solar electric system is composed of a bunch of discrete components which weigh about 8 pounds - as much as a baby - and can easily be moved. According to the guys who sell them, they 'should' last 40 years - they are guaranteed for 25.
Offshore Wind Turbines are mounted on pillars that rise up 3 or 4 miles from the ocean floor to a majestic 400 feet above the surf. A 20 foot rise in sea level won't make a difference. It'll spoil the view - make them harder to see, but they'll hum along generating power with no greenhouse gases, no radioactive wastes, no mercury, no pollution.
Coal plants can be shut down and flooded like Davey Jones Locker or the mythical Atlantis. It will cost a bundle but they won't explode or melt down.
But Nuclear plants? Those bad boys are hot - radioactive. What will happen if they flood? Will they crack? Melt-Down? Will Avon By The Sea become Chernobyl by the Sea? What will happen if they crack and release all that radioactive stuff into the ocean?
Now that the 
But for some reason there's no dollars to offset flooding in New Jersey. Over the past decade New Jersey has been hammered by flooding, with the Delaware river causing major damage twice and central Jersey seeing massive devastation in 1999's Hurricane Floyd and 2007's Nor' Easter. The picture to the left is from 1999, and a motorcycle shop that was destroyed and had to move out of town.
