MAYOR'S STORM RECOVERY UPDATE 7/13/2023, 6:00PM

The Village’s liaison with the New York State Department of Homeland Security & Emergency Services (DHSES, referred to as “dishes”) contacted the Mayor’s office with an update this afternoon.

Governor Hochul has not yet made a disaster declaration; she reportedly intends to make a determination in the next 24-48 hours. DHSES survey teams are still in the field assessing damage to determine whether the federal recovery aid thresholds are within reach. DHSES have “low confidence” that the thresholds will be met, but report that the Governor still intends to request a major disaster declaration from the White House in an effort to unlock federal relief funding.

There are two types of FEMA storm relief: (1) for public infrastructure; (2) for individual assistance. The DHSES liaison spoke very frankly, wanting to "tempter expectations" among private property owners. This isn't what anyone wants to hear right now, but I am grateful for the honesty and straight talk from DHSES. More specifically, the basement and first floors of private properties seem unlikely to qualify for individual assistance unless the damage is "catastrophic." Under FEMA definitions, that's a very high bar. 

In the meantime, the instructions given previously still hold:

• document damage in photos; save all receipts for costs related to storm recovery
• if you have flood insurance, file a claim
• if you don't have flood insurance, determine what coverage is available within your policy
• if you need assistance filing claims, resources are available to you from the New York State Department of Financial Services (see https://www.dfs.ny.gov/consumers/disaster_flood)

I will participate in a briefing with the Putnam County Bureau of Emergency Services and the County Executive on Friday afternoon (7/14). If anything new is gleaned, I will share it out to Villagers. 

Mayor Foley