Funding targets Hurricane Sandy repairs

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WASHINGTON, May 8 (UPI) -- Funding from the government will help East Coast communities recover from last year's Hurricane Sandy, U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said.

Jewell said the department is offering more than $475 million in disaster relief for reconstruction and recovery efforts from last year's storm.

Sandy flooded subway stations in New York, left millions of consumers without power for days and caused sand displacement that wrecked area roads. More than 150 people died as a result of the storm.

The funds will target services administered by the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. More than 200 projects are included in the relief effort.

Jewell said the Interior Department would coordinate funding with the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force.

"The funding we are making available today will help repair and rebuild facilities, reopen roads, and restore services in order to get our parks, refuges, beaches, and public lands fully operational and open to the public this summer," she said in a statement.