Cuomo requests major disaster declaration
FEMA assistance request for Halloween storm goes to President
On 26 November 2019, NY Governor Cuomo requested that President Donald J Trump declare a “major disaster” for the State of New York resulting from the “severe storms, flooding and straight-line winds” in the 2019 Halloween storm that did considerable damage in the upper part of the Mohawk Watershed (and elsewhere). During this event there was concern about the potential collapse of a dam due to extremely high water and catastrophic flooding on the West Canada Creek. Many other tributaries in the Watershed were badly flooded in this event.
The request by Governor Cuomo, which is in the form of a declaration letter, is a critical step that the State must take under the Stafford Act to request federal assistance following a disaster that exceeds the capabilities of that state.
The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act) is a law enacted by Congress in 1988 to allow Federal disaster assistance to local and state governments. Once a threshold level damage occurs, and the request is made, a Presidential disaster declaration allows for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to step in and coordinate Federal relief efforts, which are financial, physical, and logistical. The act states:
“Such a request shall be based on a finding that the disaster is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and the affected local governments and that Federal assistance is necessary.….Based on the request of a Governor under this section, the President may declare under this Act that a major disaster or emergency exists. (p. 401).
Note two items above in italics. The Governor needs to do the requesting and the President needs to do the declaring. If that all goes smoothly, FEMA can step in.
After a disaster occurs, a Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) is conducted, and if damage and response exceeds “State capabilities,” then the Governor may submit a declaration request to the President through the regional FEMA Regional Office. The Governor can declare either an emergency declarations or a major disaster declarations. The Act allows for two types of declarations as summarized by FEMA:
Emergency Declarations: The President can declare an emergency for any occasion or instance when the President determines federal assistance is needed. The total amount of assistance provided for in a single emergency may not exceed $5 million. The President shall report to Congress if this amount is exceeded.
Major Disaster Declarations: The President can declare a major disaster for any natural event, including any hurricane, tornado, storm, high water, wind-driven water, tidal wave, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, mudslide, snowstorm, or drought, or, regardless of cause, fire, flood, or explosion, that the President determines has caused damage of such severity that it is beyond the combined capabilities of state and local governments to respond. A major disaster declaration provides a wide range of federal assistance programs for individuals and public infrastructure, including funds for both emergency and permanent work.
On 26 November 2019, Governor Cuomo requested a “Major Disaster Declaration.” The 21 page letter details specific damage and total monetary loss estimated at $33.2 m. It summarizes the initial estimated losses in the 18 affected counties, and in this list, the largest losses are in Herkimer County ($8.8 m) and Oneida County ($6.5 m).
Several other items in the letter are worth considering. First the nature and details of the event are summarized:
This event produced heavy rains and damaging winds that caused widespread flooding, power outages, road closures and major damage to homes and other residential buildings, businesses, and public infrastructure. The storm produced flash floods with rapidly rising and swiftly moving water and tragically one man lost his life when he was swept away by the flood waters while driving in Herkimer County. At the height of the storm, State and local swift water rescue teams rescued individuals trapped in their homes…
Then he states that these sorts of events are ongoing and repetitive.
Many residents in Essex, Hamilton, Herkimer, and Oneida counties that were affected by this storm have experienced repetitive community and residential losses from flooding in declared disasters in 2013 and 2014. In addition, there have been weather events that produced enough significant damage to receive Small Business Administration disaster declarations for residential and business damages. In the past five years, Essex, Herkimer and Oneida counties have been designated twice in SBA declarations .
Finally, Governor Cuomo notes, as required by the Stafford Act, that this event is beyond State capability. The final part of the letter is the technical request.
I have determined that this incident is of such severity that the response and recovery is beyond the State's and local governments' capability and Federal Assistance is necessary. I am requesting:
• Public Assistance (PA) for categories A through G for the counties of Chautauqua, Chenango, Cortland, Erie, Essex , Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Montgomery, Oneida, Oswego, Otsego, Saratoga, Tioga, and Warren.
• Individual Assistance (IA) for Individuals and Households Program (IHP), Disaster Case Management (DCM) , Crisis Counseling, Disaster Unemployment and Disaster Legal Service for the counties of Essex , Hamilton, Herkimer and Oneida.
• Specific Assistance from FEMA to implement the Hazard Mitigation provisions of the Public Law 93-288 statewide.
So if you are in an affected area and you are wondering where FEMA is, here is part of the answer. Apparently the process needs to move forward, step by step and this was a big step forward. Now its up to President Trump to do the declaring and then FEMA can step in.
EDIT: Press release from the White House on 20 Dec 2019:
Yesterday [19 December 2019], President Donald J. Trump declared that a major disaster exists in the State of New York and ordered Federal assistance to supplement State, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, and flooding from October 31 to November 1, 2019.
This and other Notes from a Watershed are available at: https://mohawk.substack.com/