New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, are still repairing after Hurricane Sandy, five months later.  But now there's a new complication: the sequester has taken a bite out of federal aid money.

The Associated Press reports that sequester cuts will chop roughly $2.5 billion from approximately $60 billion in federal storm-related aid, including funds for transportation, housing, and mitigation efforts.  Three Members of Congress are now voicing concern.

It would be nice if America's disaster response system ran like a well-oiled machine. Unfortunately, and as Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano explained recently, there aren’t U.S. producers left to manufacture certain critically needed items like electrical transformers.

Read more about America's growing dependence on overseas suppliers for key infrastructure components.