July 20, 2023
By News Report
WASHINGTON, D.C. | Congresswoman Stefanik sent a letter to Go. Hochul requesting she fully include all North Country and Upstate New York counties that were impacted in recent storms in her disaster declaration to FEMA. Currently, New York State’s emergency declarations do not include the full extent of the serious flooding from July 1 through 10.
In the letter, the Congresswoman states, “Aid to all affected is essential to a full recovery, and upstate New York and the North Country cannot be left out of this essential process. Given that your initial request to FEMA neglected to include the July 1st and 2nd events, I strongly urge you to update that request to include a full, not just partial, accounting of the recent storms and flooding, for Clinton, Essex, and Hamilton. I request you work to move forward with a process that is closely coordinated with those who are on the front lines of this recovery effort.”
Congresswoman Stefanik has been in touch with local officials and residents who were severely impacted by the storm and have seen the devastation firsthand as they work to coordinate the recovery.
“I believe it is critical for the State of New York to work to ensure full restoration for all families, businesses, and neighborhoods affected by these disasters,” Congresswoman Stefanik states.
“Clinton County suffered overwhelming damage to a significant portion of our infrastructure throughout the course of this multiday flooding event. The widespread flash flooding across our region is unlike any we have seen before. While we remain grateful that no injuries have been reported due to the floods, the devastating impact to town, county and state roads as well as significant destruction to personal properties, will take a significant amount of time and capital to restore. We applaud the Congresswoman’s efforts to extend the dates on the Governor’s request to FEMA to include the previous flooding,” stated Mark Henry, Chairman of Clinton County Legislature.
“In the late evening hours of July 1st, The Town of Dannemora started getting an unprecedented rainfall event which, when the heavy rain stopped falling hours later, left several of our roads unpassable and private properties severely damaged. The damage may seem minimal to some due to our size and population, but that is also why it is so devastating — we have a small tax base with a small budget and have already spent tens of thousands to get our roads passable, not to mention what private citizens have spent. Additionally, the State and County roads within our town have been devastated, and it will be a major push for all of us to get the roads repaired and paved before the first snowfall,” stated Deborah Coryer, Supervisor, Town of Dannemora.
Read Stefanik’s letter in full here.
Read the full article in Sun Community News here.
