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.

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Six Months after Sandy, Connecticut Continues to Rebuild

President Declares Disaster for Connecticut

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that federal disaster aid has been made available to the State of Connecticut  to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in the area affected by a severe winter storm and snowstorm during the period of February 8 – 11, 2013.

The President’s action makes federal funding available to state, tribal and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe winter storm and snowstorm in Fairfield, Hartford, Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven, New London, Tolland, and Windham counties and the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Tribal Nations located within New London County. 

In addition, assistance is available to state, tribal and eligible local governments on a cost-sharing basis for snow assistance, for a continuous 48-hour period during or proximate to the incident period in Fairfield, Litchfield, Middlesex, New London, Tolland, and Windham counties and the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Tribal Nations located within New London County. This type of assistance is available in Hartford and New Haven counties for a 72- hour period.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures for all counties and tribes within the state.

Albert Lewis has been named as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.  Lewis said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

Follow FEMA online at fema.gov/blog, www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema.  Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema. 

The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications. 

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.

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President Declares Disaster for Connecticut

Three More Connecticut Counties Now Eligible for Public Assistance

WINDSOR, Conn. – State and local governments and certain nonprofit organizations in three additional Connecticut counties are now eligible to receive federal disaster assistance under the Public Assistance program to supplement state and local response efforts.

The counties added to the major disaster declaration issued Oct. 30 are Litchfield, Tolland and Windham. This brings the total to seven counties and two tribal nations included in the Connecticut disaster declaration.

Previous counties designated under the declaration are Fairfield, Middlesex, New Haven and New London, and the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Tribal Nations in New London County. Now, seven counties and both tribal nations are eligible for permanent work to repair and rebuild disaster-damaged infrastructure as well as costs for debris removal and emergency protective measures.

State, local and tribal governments and certain private nonprofit organizations are eligible to be reimbursed on a cost-sharing basis for debris removal and emergency protective measures, and permanent work to repair and rebuild infrastructure.

Public Assistance reimbursement is based on a federal cost share of at least 75 percent. In Connecticut, cost share for emergency power restoration and emergency public transportation was 100 percent at the height of hurricane recovery through Nov. 14.

Grants help pay for emergency protective measures such as police overtime; debris removal from public roads and rights-of-way; and permanent repairs to roads, bridges and public buildings. Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

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.

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Three More Connecticut Counties Now Eligible for Public Assistance