New York State Asks President to Expand Incident Period for Disaster Assistance

ALBANY, NY (06/28/2011)(readMedia)-- At the direction of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, the State Office of Emergency Management has submitted a request to President Barack Obama to expand the incident period of the major federal disaster declaration the State received for the April-May tornadoes, severe storms and flooding.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) established an incident period of April 26-May 8 for the federal disaster declaration. That means only damages and costs that were incurred during that time frame are eligible for federal assistance. Based on State OEM's analysis of the weather, New York is requesting the incident period be expanded to the period of April 3 through May 30.

"Our analysis shows that storms producing rain continuously impacted the State from April 3 through May 30," said Andrew X. Feeney, State OEM Director. "Most areas affected remained susceptible to flash flooding because the persistent storm system continued to produce rain and ground saturation that exacerbated flooding conditions."

Feeney said that many of the counties that the Governor requested in his May 24 letter seeking federal aid experienced rain during that period and have just begun to experience a return to normalcy. Only recently did water levels on Lake Champlain fall below flood stage. American Red Cross sheltering efforts, located in the City of Plattsburgh, closed on June 1.

"I expect that some latent damages may not be visible until later this summer," Feeney said. "Continued ground saturation resulting from and exacerbated by these storms means that many communities will remain susceptible to flash flooding."

Twenty-one counties were declared eligible on June 10 to receive federal disaster assistance and 75 percent reimbursement for the costs of debris removal and response as well as for permanent repairs to public property such as roads, bridges and culverts. Counties included in the declaration are: Allegany, Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Madison, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Ontario, Steuben, Tioga, Ulster, Warren, and Yates.

FEMA has not yet responded to New York State's request to provide federal disaster assistance to individuals and businesses in 15 counties impact by the April-May storms.