Grants to be made available for storm recovery

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)– Remnants from Debby caused damage in New York State communities. Allegany, Delaware, Franklin, Steuben, and St. Lawrence Counties are among the hardest hit areas. Governor Kathy Hochul announced over the weekend that money will be made available to help people in those counties.

“All these homeowners who have been impacted will be eligible for grants up to $50,000 dollars to help pay for reimbursement expenses related to the storm that aren’t covered by insurance or other disaster relief,” said Governor Kathy Hochul at a press conference on Sunday.

According to New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Commissioner, Jackie Bray, the grants can either be paid out on a reimbursement basis or it can be paid out prior to the work being done on someone’s home.

“Homes and community renewal will administer those grants through local non-profits. They are in the process of selecting those non-profits,” said Bray.

Those interested in grant money are encouraged to fill out an online form. They are also urged to keep track of their expenses and any belongings they lost.

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The New York State Department of Financial Services will be available to help people with insurance related questions and complaints.

“We are going to send mobile vans here to help people apply for their insurance. Because no one ever saw this coming, they didn’t expect to be in this position,” said Hochul. “But we know how to deal with this. Our state teams will be on the ground answering questions, helping people fill out the forms so they can get their insurance money sooner.”

The governor has already alerted the White House about requesting FEMA money for this storm. Bray said the state is tallying up the damage.

“Our disaster recovery teams will be boots on the ground starting tomorrow,” explained the Commissioner. “It will take them a couple weeks in order for them to get engineers eyes on all the washed out roads and bridges to make sure we got really accurate assessments.”

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