Jones urges Obama to request hurricane relief for North Carolina’s inlets

Today Congressman Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., urged President Barack Obama not to forget the damage to North Carolina’s coastal inlets caused by Hurricane Sandy. 

Many, if not most of the inlets, suffered serious shoaling during the hurricane and the northeasters that followed it.

The Obama administration is putting together a funding request to address damage caused by the storm that it will soon submit to Congress. 

In a letter sent to the president today, Congressman Jones called on the administration to include funding in that request to repair the North Carolina inlets damaged by Sandy.  Congress must then approve the request before the funding can become available.  

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers –Wilmington District has determined that Hurricane Sandy caused over $30 million in damage to North Carolina’s coastal inlets.  These damages include:

Morehead City Harbor – $6 million

Hatteras Ferry Channel – $2 million

Ocracoke Ferry Channel – $600,000

Manteo Shallowbag Bay (Oregon Inlet) – $9 million

Rodanthe Emergency Ferry Channel – $150,000

Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway – $3 million

Beaufort Harbor – $150,000

The waterway connecting Pamlico Sound to Beaufort Harbor (including Wainwright Slough, Atlantic Harbor, and Taylor Creek) – $500,000.

“I strongly urge the president to include in his request funding to repair North Carolina’s coastal inlets to their pre-Sandy condition,” said Congressman Jones.  “Fishermen, passenger ferries and boaters use these waterways on a daily basis. Repairing them is vital to restoring economic activity and safe transportation on the North Carolina coast.”