More than 3 months after Superstorm Sandy, it's become clear that shore towns with tall sand dunes suffered much less damage than towns without the dunes.

Governor's Office/Tim Larsen
Governor's Office/Tim Larsen
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For that reason, Governor Christie is urging all Garden State municipalities up and down the coast to take advantage of federal dollars to rebuild dune protection.

During a visit to Sea Girt, Christie said, "These storms will not stop coming I suspect, over the next number of decades, and we need to be ready for them. Now we have the resources available to us through the federal government to help get us ready for them. We should not be short-sighted and turn away that opportunity."

Part of the Sandy relief package passed by Congress calls for the Army Corp of Engineers to spend 750 million dollars to replenish Jersey beaches, which includes building up the dunes.

The Governor also said, "The size of the dunes will vary from town to town, depending upon the infrastructure it's protecting, how close things are to the beach, are there homes right on the beach or are the homes a block off or two blocks off the beach…This is not a one-size fits all proposition. I think this is something that we'll work. DEP will work with the municipalities and with the Army Corp of Engineers, to try to come up with what works each individual town."

He pointed out, "If you drive up and down our shore, the way it looks in Bayhead and Mantoloking, for instance, is significantly different from the way it looks here in Sea Girt or in Bradley Beach…You don't want to get into a one-size fits all thing, I think that will make people real nervous in this state because they know each one of these communities has a different character to it…We don't want to completely homogenize the Jersey Shore. Each one of these towns has their own special kind of charm and character- we want that to continue."

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