FEMA Disater Recovery Center

Good afternoon


FEMA will operate a Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) next week in Kingston. The DRC will be located in the Hudson River Maritime Museum at 50 Rondout Landing, and will be open from noon until 5 PM on Monday December 3, and then 10 AM to 5 PM Tuesday through Friday December 4-7. Unlike the registration centers that were open last weekend in Kingston and Saugerties, the DRC will provide residents and businesses with an opportunity to talk to FEMA and Small Business Association representatives about their specific situation. Affected property owners are encouraged to apply for assistance by calling FEMA at 800-621-3362, registering on line at DisasterAssistance.gov, or by stopping in at the DRC.



The DRC will be open for one week only, so this is the best opportunity for individuals and business owners to meet face to face with those most knowledgeable about the FEMA and SBA programs. Please help spread the word about this opportunity. Thank you.

Art

FEMA Registration Centers opening

Good afternoon,


Beginning Monday November 19 through Wednesday November 21 FEMA Community Relations specialists will be visiting areas of Ulster County to ensure residents and businesses know about the disaster declaration and that assistance is available.

I previously indicated that individuals sustaining damage to their homes could make an application for disaster benefits to FEMA by calling 1-800-621-3362 or on line at DisasterAssistance.gov. Those means of applying are still applicable. Additionally, FEMA will be staffing two Registration Centers on Friday November 23 through Monday November 26 from 8 AM through 4 PM, all four days. The locations will be at the Saugerties Senior Citizen's Center at 207 Market Street in Saugerties, and at Kingston City Hall, 420 Broadway in Kingston. FEMA representatives will assist residents in filing a claim. This is not a full Disaster Recovery Center (DRC), but rather a place where residents can obtain assistance in filing their claim. We are working to schedule a mobile DRC, but with such a large area of state affected, and the number of applicants, our ability to obtain the vehicle will be based on our number of registrants.

Members of the business community can also begin the process of obtaining SBA assistance by first filing with FEMA. There are other programs available, so starting with FEMA is a good first step that ensures the business / business owner can maximize benefits.

If you have any questions, please give me a call.

Art

How to Avoid Getting Sick From Floodwaters

The Ulster County Health Department has posted useful information on their website regarding how to avoid getting sick from floodwaters. Please follow this link for more information:
http://www.ulstercountyny.gov/health/FACT-SHEET-exposure-to-raw-sewage.pdf

FEMA-4085-DR-NY (Public Assistance declaration)

We have received good news this evening - Ulster County has been added to
the list of counties eligible for FEMA's Public Assistance program. This
will allow all municipalities, special districts and
private-not-for-profits to submit for reimbursement of Superstorm Sandy
related expenses. The next step in this process will be to hold an
Applicant's Briefing (more will follow on that). For now, thank you to all
who submitted information for the Preliminary Damage Assessment - your
efforts led to this rapid approval by FEMA

FEMA approves Ulster County for Individual Assistance

Good afternoon

Ulster County has been declared eligible for FEMA's Individual Assistance program - this will help families recover from the effects of Sandy. Individuals and families may apply on line at DisasterAssistance.gov or by telephone at (800) 621-3362. On Wednesday I will be meeting with FEMA officials about establishing a Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) that will supply access to the various FEMA services available under this declaration. We will work to incorporate a Small Business Association presence at the DRC to assist the many businesses that sustained damages. I wish to emphasize there is no need to wait for a DRC to open - encourage your residents to apply on line or by telephone. I'd also like to recognize the hard work of the building inspectors and code enforcement officials that supplied us with the required information on very short notice.

 

With respect to the Public Assistance program - which helps municipalities recover the costs associated with their recovery efforts - we had a very successful preliminary damage assessment on Friday. We needed to meet a per capita threshold, and we did. Again, this is due to the work of our municipal officials in compiling damage costs. Because we did meet the per capita threshold, I anticipate that we will receive a PA declaration as well (although this may take a week or so to clear the administrative hurdles).

 

Thanks to all for your hard work. More information will follow as it becomes available.

Art