TIOGA COUNTY, N.Y. - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo recently announced that New York State will cover the local share of disaster response and recovery costs resulting from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) usually covers 75 percent of eligible disaster response and recovery costs, and the remaining 25 percent is typically shared equally by the state and localities. Under the Governor's direction, the state will pick up the local share for most eligible expenses, making $61 million available to 25 counties to cover costs associated with emergency shelter, road, water system and infrastructure repair, stream and riverbed mitigation, and other clean-up projects.
"Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee devastated communities across our state, uprooting lives and placing a tremendous financial strain on families and local governments," Governor Cuomo said. "During the storms and their aftermath, New Yorkers in an outpouring of goodwill came together to lend a hand to their neighbors, and now it is the state's turn to lend a hand to localities. I am pleased that New York State could step up to the plate and provide tens of millions of dollars in funding to take the pressure off local governments and taxpayers, and allow existing rebuilding and recovery projects to move forward as quickly as possible."
Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee caused widespread destruction across New York late last summer, marking one of the largest disasters in the state's history. The total storm recovery cleanup cost is expected to exceed $1.6 billion and involve approximately 15,000 separate response and recovery projects.
The state is able to cover the local share of costs through funding put in place by the Legislature and additional federal funds requested by the Governor.
Broome County has an estimated $75,223,597 in recovery costs, and the local share is $9,402,950. In Chemung County, estimated recovery costs are $12,560,712, with the local share tallied at $1,570,089. For Tioga County, estimated recovery costs are $57,458,601, and the local share is estimated at $7,182,325. In Tompkins County the estimated recovery costs are $2,831,347, and the local share $353,918.
State Senator Tom Libous said, "Our area was hit hard by flooding and by its after effects, which our local governments are struggling to afford. Many municipalities are faced with doing nothing or raising property taxes to cover the local share of the recovery. We worked with Governor Cuomo to have the state pick up this cost so that we can continue moving forward without harming our local taxpayers."
"This funding will be an enormous help to cash-strapped local governments and school districts," said Assemblymember Donna Lupardo. "This will save taxpayers money and help the flood recovery efforts in the Southern Tier. We were able to pick up the local share of expenses not covered by FEMA after the flooding in 2006. I am grateful that this type of the assistance will be coming to our community once again."
Submitted by the office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo