NEW JERSEY (1010 WINS) — Gov. Phil Murphy said he'd like to "sharpen" the state's emergency alert system and defended his administration's warnings ahead of Wednesday's record-setting rainfall from Ida.
"We screamed loud and clear: tornado warnings, flood warnings, flash flood warnings. We begged people to get off the road," Murphy said on CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday.
At least 27 people have died in New Jersey following Ida's wreckage. Forecasters warned of the potential for tornadoes and flash flooding for days leading up to the storm. Murphy on Wednesday urged residents to "stay in if you can" but didn't take any other official action until he signed an emergency declaration at 9 p.m., Politico reported.
"We had rain in — in many communities in two or three hours that were equivalent to what they normally get in a month or two," Murphy went on. "And- and- and this, sadly, we think, is part of the- part of what we're going to be facing, more frequency and more intensity."
Murphy said he wanted to "sharpen" the emergency alert system and called for Congress to pass the infrastructure bill to provide funding to improve resiliency in the state.
"[W]e've got infrastructure that was built for a different reality. And so that's the big piece of this," Muprhy said. "And we want to make sure that folks, when they hear these warnings, bless their souls, that they take them as seriously as we need them. And, God willing, we will be able to sharpen that as well going forward."
