Super Sandy: Obama asks for $60bn - BBC

This report is from the BBC.

US President Barack Obama has requested more than $60bn (£37bn) from Congress for response, recovery and repairs in the wake of "Superstorm" Sandy.

The scale of the request was welcomed by the governors of the two worst-hit states, New York and New Jersey.

But the request fell short of the $80bn estimate of the total damage done in those states and in Connecticut.

The White House said the storm was on track to be the second or third most costly storm in US history.

Only Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Andrew in 1992 caused more damage, Jeffrey Zients of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) wrote in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner.

Sandy has been blamed for more than 120 deaths, and many thousands of people are still unable to live in their flood-damaged homes.

No spending cuts

The presidential request will have to pass the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and the Democratic-led Senate before funds are made available.

It is expected to face scrutiny in Congress, where many fiscal conservatives are strongly opposed to increases in US federal spending.