(Bloomberg) -- New York’s 33 public housing developments willget $3 billion from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, itslargest grant ever, to repair damage from Hurricane Sandy and toprotect against a future storm.

About 80,000 tenants will benefit from more secure lobbies inbuildings equipped with better lighting, security cameras, boilersand electrical equipment, said Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was joinedby U.S Senator Charles Schumer in announcing the grant Tuesday at ahousing development in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn.

“We had the devastation of Sandy, but it gave us the capital torebuild parts of NYCHA better than before,” Schumer told reporters,referring to the Housing Authority by its acronym. “Even people notaffected by Sandy, their lives are going to be made muchbetter.”

The October 2012 storm killed at least 40 in the city, and sentwater surging through Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island andManhattan, flooding thousands of homes, subway lines and vehicletunnels.

The funds will pay for relocating heating and electricitysystems to higher ground, building barriers for low-lying buildingsnear waterways and beaches, and providing stand-by generators tomitigate power losses, which affected tens of thousands of NewYorkers for several days.

“It will allow us to fortify buildings and utilities so thatthey’re resilient -- and residents are much more protected -- thenext time extreme weather hits,” de Blasio said.

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