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 costly³ 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.

 

 

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 scrutiny⁴ in Congress, where many fiscal⁵ conservatives are strongly opposed to increases in US federal spending.

 

Mr Obama's team proposed no spending cuts in conjunction with the funding request, saying the "sudden, urgent, unforeseen and temporary" nature of the disaster made the request allowable under disaster-relief laws.

 

In a statement, Governors Andrew Cuomo of New York and Chris Christie of New Jersey thanked Mr Obama for his "steadfast⁶ commitment of support" since the storm hit on 29 October.

 

They said the package would pay for "essential mitigation and prevention efforts that will better protect our region against the devastating⁷ impacts of future superstorms".

 

The huge funding request comes as the president and his advisers⁸ are negotiating with Republicans over a deal to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" - a combination of spending rises and tax cuts due to take effect on 1 January if no action is taken.

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