
A wave of hurricanes that smashed portions of the southern U.S. and Puerto Rico in August and September has cost the Coast Guard nearly $1 billion, not to mention impacts to readiness and ongoing operations such as drug interdiction, the service’s top official said on Thursday.The monetary costs are related to the need to “rebuild damaged infrastructure and restore eroded readiness,” Adm. Paul Zukunft, the commandant of the Coast Guard, told the Senate Commerce, Science, & Transportation subcommittee that oversees…