(MCT) — TRENTON, N.J. — Gov. Chris Christie boosted the cost of New Jersey’s recovery from Superstorm Sandy to $36.9 billion Wednesday and hired a former assistant U.S. attorney to oversee the state’s rebuilding effort.

A parade of escalating numbers detailed Sandy’s toll: More than 30,000 businesses and homes destroyed or structurally damaged, an additional 42,000 homes with problems, 100 miles of beach severely eroded. Already, Christie said, 233,000 people in the state have registered for assistance.