New Hampshire getting $20M grant to help reconstruct coastal seawalls

RYE, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire is getting a $20 million federal grant to help reconstruct coastal seawalls eroded by storms and flooding and received a disaster aid declaration to recuperate costs from a storm in January, officials said Monday.

The grant, announced by Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt at Rye Harbor State Park, will help bolster stone barriers along Route 1A in North Hampton and Rye in Rockingham County to reduce flooding, structural damage and post-storm cleanup time to ensure smoother travel.

It is being awarded under the FHA’s Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-saving Transportation program.

Separately, President Joe Biden granted Gov. Chris Sununu’s request for a major disaster declaration Rockingham and Grafton counties, in response to a damaging and costly storm and flooding in January.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, working with state and local emergency management officials, recently completed a Preliminary Damage Assessment, finding that the statewide cost for response efforts related to this event totaled a little over $3 million, Sununu said in a statement.

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“This declaration will provide a step toward recovery in the communities that experienced severe flooding and power outages in January,” said Robert Buxton, director of the state Department of Safety’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. “We will continue to assist communities with the process of making repairs and working on mitigation projects to prevent similar problems in the future.”