President Joe Biden issued a disaster declaration on Saturday for eight New York counties — including four in the Hudson Valley — after major flooding last week devastated local roads and bridges in the hardest-hit areas.
Biden’s declaration unlocks FEMA funding for the state and local governments in the affected counties, clearing the way for the federal government to pick up 75% of the cost of repairing or replacing key infrastructure and facilities.
The declaration applies to Orange, Dutchess, Rockland and Putnam counties in the Hudson Valley, along with Clinton, Ontario, Essex and Hamilton counties to the north and west. Other counties — including Westchester — remain under review, according to the White House and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office.
“My administration will work directly with FEMA in the coming weeks to ensure our local government partners receive the critical funding they need to begin the recovery and rebuilding process,” Hochul said in a statement.
Heavy rain pounded much of the Hudson Valley over a period of several hours on July 9, leading to flooding that wiped out roads, destabilized bridges and damaged homes in some areas.
Towns and villages surrounding the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in Orange County took the worst of it, including the village of Highland Falls, where about 8 inches of rain fell in one six-hour period — enough to qualify as a 1,000-year storm.
Hochul’s office estimated the flooding caused more than $100 million in damage, more than enough to qualify the state for FEMA assistance. She formally requested that Biden declare a disaster in 12 counties.
Biden’s declaration on Saturday makes the eight counties eligible for what’s known as FEMA’s public assistance program, in which governments and some nonprofits can apply for funding to replace infrastructure or facilities or to pay for projects that could mitigate natural disasters in the future.
Hochul also asked Biden to make the two hardest-hit counties — Orange County in the Hudson Valley, and Ontario County in the Finger Lakes — eligible for FEMA’s individual assistance program, which provides federal grants directly to those whose homes and properties suffered storm damage.
Biden’s initial declaration did not initially grant Hochul’s request for individual assistance. The state and federal governments are continuing to assess damage in the area and “additional forms of assistance may be designated after the assessments are fully complete,” according to a White House statement.
