Meeting in AC Friday night for billion dollar Disaster Resilience Competition

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection will be hosting a public meeting to identify future storm vulnerabilities and frame the unmet recovery needs in the Atlantic City region as part of a billion-dollar National Disaster Resilience Competition.

The Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development recently announced the new competition, with a goal of helping to improve the resiliency of communities that have been struck by natural disasters in recent years. There are 67 eligible applicants across the country for this $1 billion national competition. The State of New Jersey is one of the eligible applicants for NDRC funding.

“This meeting will give residents, officials and other stakeholders from throughout the state the opportunity to inform DEP about vulnerable areas with unmet recovery needs and possible solutions to ongoing flooding and related problems that can be resolved, in part, through funding provided by this competition,” DEP Deputy Commissioner David Glass said. “The goal is to protect communities from future storms, such as Superstorm Sandy.”

Officials from the DEP, including staff from the Department’s Flood Hazard Risk Reduction Measures, will be on hand to listen to suggestions and answer questions.

This new competition follows the successful HUD design competition called, Rebuild by Design RBD focused on developing conceptual plans to provide flood protection to vulnerable areas of New Jersey and other states affected by Superstorm Sandy.

The new competition was authorized in June 2014 in response to demand from state, local and tribal leaders who are working to increase the safety and security of their communities. The competition will invite communities that have experienced natural disasters to compete for funds to help them rebuild and increase their resilience to future disasters.