Christie: NJ's Hurricane Sandy Tally Now Almost $37B - Philadelphia News, Weather and Sports from WTXF FOX 29

Gov. Chris Christie announced Wednesday that Hurricane Sandy's estimated financial impact to New Jersey will be $36.8 billion.

In addition to $29.4 billion for repair and response, the cost for supplemental mitigation, protection and prevention will be another $7.4 billion, resulting in a cumulative total of $36.8 billion.

Christie announced the figure during a news conference in Trenton and said he's submitting this estimate Wednesday to the White House, New Jersey's congressional delegation as well as New York officials.

The $36.8-billion damage total is a sum larger than the state's annual budget.

Christie also announced a key appointments in the formal hurricane recovery effort, including Marc Ferzan to manage efforts within the governor's office.

Ferzan was previously executive assistant attorney general and a colleague of Christie's at the U.S. Attorney's office before leaving for a private sector job. In his return to the public sector, Ferzan will be responsible for overseeing and coordinating Christie's long-term recovery efforts with all federal, state, local, private, and non-governmental partners.

And Christie announced the retention of Witt Associates, a team with vast experience in disaster recovery and large scale mitigation management. James Witt is a special advisor to the State of Louisiana, assisting with the nation's largest long-term recovery effort in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and previously served as FEMA director under President Bill Clinton.