Dutchess County Receives Major Disaster Declaration
Continues advocacy for individual assistance for residents, businesses
Poughkeepsie… Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro announced the County’s application for public disaster assistance has been approved following weeks of gathering information about damages to public facilities and municipalities totaling more than $2.5 million and facilitating extensive review of the findings and estimates by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the wake of Hurricane Ida earlier this month.
With this declaration, Dutchess County is now eligible to receive Public Assistance (PA), which is aid available to local governments – the county, towns, villages, and cities – as well as other public entities such as water and sewer authorities and fire districts. Emergency work, such as overtime and debris removal, as well as the repair of damaged public facilities are all considered to be eligible expenses for aid from the federal government. Certain private, non-profits which provide governmental services are also eligible. Under PA, FEMA funds up to 75 percent of the eligible costs.
County Executive Molinaro said, “This disaster declaration is good news for our local municipalities who sustained significant damage as it provides much needed support and assistance to repair the more than $2.5 million worth of damage to public facilities throughout Dutchess County following Hurricane Ida. We will continue to press FEMA and the State for ‘Individual Assistance’ to aid the families and businesses who have also sustained significant damage and are struggling to recover. We are grateful to the Governor’s office for their support throughout this weeks-long review process to get the Public Assistance for municipalities and hope we can be equally successful in ensuring Individual Assistance for residents and businesses.”
Dutchess County has been advocating for weeks to receive PA for municipalities and continues to advocate for FEMA to authorize additional Individual Assistance (IA) for residents and businesses impacted by the storm. This disaster declaration is a vital first step towards receiving approval for IA.
Earlier this month, the Department of Emergency Response launched an online portal to gather preliminary damage estimates to homes and businesses. Residents are encouraged to complete the survey online to report damages if they have not already done so.
Residents are reminded that submitting their information is not a guarantee of funding, and online submissions do not register them with FEMA. If FEMA determines Dutchess County is eligible for IA, residents will be notified about how to register and apply for aid.
