Governor Christie says power has been restored to most New Jersey households, 98 percent of schools are open again, and odd-even gas distribution in North Jersey will end at 6am Tuesday.  He says it’s now time to focus on rebuilding.

“The rebuilding process is not going to be easy. It’s going to be expensive, it’s going to be complicated, and it’s going to take time. In some instances it will take months. In other instances it will take years. We’ve all seen the devastation at this point, and you can’t recreate overnight communities that took decades to build.”

Christie says he wants to get displaced residents out of shelters. He says the former military base at Fort Monmouth should be ready by the end of the week to provide temporary housing for up to 600 families.

 “We’re working this week to get the utilities turned on there again, the water and heat and electricity, and we’ll be able in what is really nice housing be able to put people there temporarily as they work towards what their permanent solution is for the home that was destroyed or debilitated. “

Christie says the state will work with the Army Corps of Engineers to rebuild New Jersey’s beaches.

“Make sure that this summer the Jersey Shore is active and vibrant and even though it may not look exactly as it looked before that it’s there for the people of our state to have a respire from the trials of their day-to-day lives and to create memories for their spouses and their children.”

The governor expects to have an estimate within a day or two of the dollar amount of damage Sandy caused in New Jersey.