Christie uses blizzard to slam towns fighting sand dunes

– New Jersey Governor Chris Christie briefed the public on the state’s response to this weekend’s blizzard on Sunday.

If you’re going to use dead people as a bloody shirt to wave at a political opponent, at least know how many of them there are.

Christie drove back to New Jersey on Friday because he was unable to get a flight among the thousands of cancellations, he said. The town hall in Portsmouth was one of three campaign stops in New Hampshire.

He was one of a handful of local business owners to criticize comments by Christie, a Republican White House contender who told CNN on Sunday that he had “no concerns” about flooding as a result of the storm.

Christie suggested during the afternoon news conference that his phone conversation with Van Drew only buttressed his argument, arguing the senator told him only “a few inches” remain on the streets in parts of Cape May County. Meanwhile, his wife, Mary Pat, stayed behind in the Granite State to be his proxy at some of his scheduled events there.

Christie insisted, however, that the people of New Jersey would change their minds because of the “strong, effective leadership” he provided during the storm.

“What you see here and this is nothing like Hurricane Sandy”, Christie told Eyewitness News.

The governor said he had been clear several times over the week that he was monitoring the storm and leaving open the possibility of returning if needed, and he called reports to the contrary “wholly inaccurate”. On CNNs “State of the Union, ” Christie said the remark showed “a real immaturity from Sen.

Sandy was directly responsible for 147 deaths in the United States, destroying more than 650,000 homes around the greater NY area and causing almost $50 billion in damage.

“No declaration of disaster can be made until we determine whether we have reached that damage threshold”, he said.

Residents of New Jersey’s southern shorefront towns on Monday cleaned up homes and businesses flooded by a storm surge during the weekend’s massive blizzard and rued what they described as Governor Chris Christie’s dismissive treatment of the damage. And that’s what has gone on here in New Jersey. Not a good look, Guv, nor is flat-out admitting you only came back to avoid criticism. “But I want to make sure that the people of my state feel safe and secure”.