JON HURDLE / NJ SPOTLIGHT NEWS – Will Hurricane Ida’s devastation persuade New Jersey policymakers that it’s time to move more people out of flood-prone areas, build roads in places where they won’t be overwhelmed by surging waters, or ensure that drinking-water plants have backups for use in case of storms? Climate experts hope the answer is “yes,” but they’re not putting money on it.

After record rains across the state last week led to more than two dozen deaths and millions of dollars in damage to property, the observers said it’s time for the state to accelerate its plans to adapt to a forbidding new climate of heavier rains, higher temperatures, bigger storms and rising seas …