Six Months after Sandy, Connecticut Continues to Rebuild

WINDSOR, Conn. — More than $283 million in federal disaster assistance, loans and insurance claims paid to date is funding Connecticut’s ongoing recovery from Hurricane Sandy. The huge storm devastated portions of the eastern seaboard and drenched most of the state six months ago.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Connecticut Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security provide this summary of assistance to date.

The Hurricane Sandy disaster declaration made federal Individual Assistance (IA) available to the residents of Fairfield, Middlesex, New Haven and New London counties, and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the Mohegan Tribal Nation located within New London County.

Assistance to Individuals, Households, and Businesses

To date:

• 12,452 Connecticut residents registered with FEMA for federal disaster assistance;
• 6,417 damaged properties have been inspected statewide;
• More than $13.7 million in Individual Assistance grants were approved:

• Over $12.6 million has been approved for housing assistance, including short-term rental assistance and home repair costs;
• More than $1.02 million has been approved to cover other essential disaster-related needs, such as medical and dental expenses and lost personal possessions;

• $42.8 million in low-interest disaster loans for homeowners, renters, businesses and private nonprofit organizations has been approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration; and
• $22,196 in Disaster Unemployment Assistance was provided.

Assistance to Help Rebuild Infrastructure

Public Assistance (PA) was made available under the Sandy disaster declaration in the counties of Fairfield, Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven, New London Tolland, and Windham, as well as the Mashantucket Pequot and the Mohegan tribal nations located within New London County.

Public Assistance projects include repairs to roads, bridges, utilities, and other public infrastructure, as well as emergency protective measures taken during and immediately after the storm. FEMA picks up 75 percent of the cost and the remainder is paid for by the state and local government.

To date:

• More than $76 million in storm-related damage to publicly-owned infrastructure has been identified. The federal share of that portion of the recovery is $57 million, or 75 percent;
• 220 eligible PA applicants have submitted 425 of an estimated 660 projects; and
• More than $7.04 million in federal PA grants has been obligated

FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation specialists counseled more than 1,800 individuals on lessening the impact of future disasters. The mitigation teams met with individuals on 11 separate occasions at home supply stores throughout the disaster area. 

Additionally, 5,902 flood insurance claims totaling $220,124,212 have been paid to date, representing more than 96 percent of total National Flood Insurance Program claims in the state of Connecticut following Hurricane Sandy.

There were 407 FEMA and 359 state and/or other federal agency employees working fulltime and overtime during the height of the recovery.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.