Ten years ago, Hurricane Sandy cost an estimated $30 billion across all of New Jersey. With rising sea level, a storm with a similar track and intensity to Sandy could bring similar losses to just the cities of Jersey City, Newark, Hoboken, and Bayonne, combined. This estimate is one of the outcomes of the Resilient Northeastern NJ program, a regional coalition made up of leaders from the four cities, Hudson County, Ironbound Community Corporation, and HOPES Community Action Partnership, with support from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and a team of technical experts.

Since Spring of 2021, the Resilient Northeastern NJ team has been engaging communities to develop a regional Action Plan to build off ongoing work and chart a more resilient future. This plan considers hazards caused or exacerbated by climate change, making sure the most vulnerable residents are an integral part of the decision making.

Community members steered the planning process and are now encouraged to provide feedback on the draft Action Plan for a 30-day comment period that ends October 23. The draft Action Plan is available at www.resilient.nj.gov/nenj. Resilient Northeastern NJ is accepting feedback via the feedback form (tinyurl.com/NENJ-action-plan-feedback), email at ResilientNENJ@dep.nj.gov, voice message at 201-275-0861, and social media (@resilientNENJ on Facebook and Twitter and @resilient_nenj on Instagram).

In addition to coastal storm surge, the diverse region of over 700,000 people is threatened by stormwater flooding and an array of other climate-related challenges like extreme heat, poor air quality, and contamination. As the planet warms with climate change, it will hold more moisture. Flooding from a heavy rain event could cost up to $5.9 billion based on Resilient Northeastern NJ estimates using new models developed by NJDEP. Climate change is also expected to bring higher frequency and intensity of heat waves to the region, which in turn can exacerbate hazards from air pollutants such as ozone...

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