FEMA denies Halloween flood relief
Political fallout from FEMA denial of Individual Assistance request
- Updated 16 January -
In the first week of January 2020, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) denied the request from NY State for Individual Assistance for flood victims, most of which are in the upper part of the Mohawk Watershed. The State made two requests to FEMA following the Halloween storm: one for Public Assistance (road, bridges, and other infrastructure) and one for Individual Assistance (homes).
At the time there was concern that neither request may make threshold damage levels required by FEMA. The request for Public Assistance by Governor Cuomo - for ~$33 million - was approved, but now we learn that the request for Individual Assistance was not. This denial of the Individual Assistance request will undoubtedly be appealed by the Governor. Note that this is federal assistance (through FEMA), and requests, which are developed at the local level, ultimately come from the Governor and go to the President. If approved, FEMA is the acting federal agency. This is not a State program.
FEMA requests following a disaster can be confusing, and I felt a need to dig into this because I teach a course on the science of Natural Disasters (science and policy decisions can be intertwined). After Governor Cuomo requested aid in November, I wrote about the original impetus of disaster relief requests. 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. A Presidential disaster declaration allows for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to step in and coordinate federal relief efforts.
It has been reported that the January 2020 letter from FEMA, which outlines the reason for denial, states: “The impact to the individuals and households from this event was not of such severity and magnitude as to warrant the designation of individual assistance.” In other words, the total damage did not meet their threshold level. It certainly was severe for those who experienced the event and are living in the aftermath.
In the “Individual Assistance Program and Policy Guide (IAPPG),” FEMA notes:
Through the Individual Assistance (IA) programs, FEMA provides direct assistance to individuals and households, as well as SLTT [State, Local, Territorial, Tribal] government to support individual survivors. Through the Public Assistance (PA) program, FEMA provides grants to SLTT governments and certain PNP organizations to assist them with disaster response and recovery, including debris removal, emergency protective measures, and permanent restoration of facilities.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Individuals and Households Program (IHP) provides financial help or direct services to those who have necessary expenses and serious needs if they are unable to meet these needs through other means. These forms of help are available: (1) Housing Assistance (including Temporary Housing, Repair, Replacement, and Semi-Permanent or Permanent Housing Construction) and; (2) Other Needs Assistance (including personal property and other items).
NY Governor Andrew Cuomo released a statement on 3 January demanding individual assistance for Halloween flood victims:
It is unacceptable that the federal government has denied our request for individual assistance for the residents affected by the Halloween 2019 storm and I'm demanding the Federal Emergency Management Agency provide a detailed explanation on the denial.
Across Essex, Hamilton, Herkimer and Oneida counties, heavy rainfall, flash flooding and strong winds damaged nearly 300 homes, 18 of which were destroyed. The lives of hundreds of families were altered and the destruction was substantial - more than $33 million in damages to public infrastructure and facilities alone.
FEMA needs to step up, do the right thing and help these people restore and rebuild their lives and homes. The agency's sole mission is to help communities dealing with disasters and a one-sentence denial is woefully inadequate and does nothing to offer hope for these families. We will be appealing this denial.
Flooding in the upper part of the watershed was most damaging in Herkimer and Oneida counties, and this area falls in the 21st and 22nd US Congressional districts. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (NY 21st District) noted in a press release on 3 January:
I am extremely disappointed by FEMA's decision to deny individual assistance to flood victims after approving federal public assistance that my office worked to deliver. I have spoken with numerous families in our district who have lost their homes and their businesses. The impact of the Halloween storms has been devastating to our region and the livelihood of many families. My office will immediately work to ensure we address this devastating news directly with FEMA and advocate for families of New York's 21st District to get the relief and support they deserve.
US Congressman Anthony Brindisi (NY 22nd District) does not have a media statement or press release on the denial. In December, Brindisi praised release of Public Assistance, and noted that he would keep fighting for Individual Assistance:
Our communities were devastated by the recent floods and this public assistance is a good first step to making us whole again. These dollars will help with cleanup and rebuilding our public infrastructure, but I will keep fighting for individual assistance as well. I urged the Administration to respond quickly to our needs and I am hopeful they will release additional funds to the families that lost everything.
Some of the strongest statements have come from Anthony Picente, the Oneida County Executive. He is clearly frustrated with the process. In a story by Spectrum News, he is quoted as saying:
I am angry and disappointed in FEMA’s decision to deny individual assistance and I request Governor Cuomo immediately appeal its decision. Time and time again, I have asked FEMA to reconsider its draconian thresholds and criteria to fund individual assistance to our residents who are suffering through no fault of their own and those requests are continuously ignored.
In a powerful letter to President Trump, Anthony Picente wrote:
On October 31, 2019, the County of Oneida in the State of New York suffered what was most likely the worst flood in its history. Our residents experienced unprecedented damage and loss and many will never be able to recover from the devastation. When all was said and done, more than 1,100 homes were severely damaged.
Over the past decade, we have experienced a half dozen 100-year· level floods and many of the victims of October's event have had to endure the same hardships over and over. As a county, we have come to their aid time and time again, allocating tens of millions of dollars to provide financial assistance to home owners, business owners and municipalities and to fund flood mitigation projects. We have deployed personnel and resources to assist in clean-up efforts and set up disaster relief centers to provide county services, supplies, and food and shelter. And each of these times, we have been left to stand alone, abandoned by our federal government. While FEMA did see fit in this instance to grant public assistance for the damages Incurred by our municipal infrastructure, we have once again been denied the individual assistance our residents so desperately need. These are people who have been dealt setback after setback and are at the ends of their ropes. Many are desperate to be set free from their plight and were counting on this federal funding to come through and remove the heavy burden of these uninhabitable and unsellable homes once and for all.
This denial is unacceptable. If the destruction left in the wake of this most recent flooding is not enough to finally elicit help from the federal government, then I am truly at a loss….
Sen. Rachel May, who represents the 53rd Senate District in the New York State Legislature, is urging changes to the approach to flood mitigation. In an opinion piece recently published by Syracuse.com she wrote:
We also need to update FEMA floodplain maps to calculate risk based not on historical data, as is currently done, but on projected future conditions driven by warming temperatures. These maps should cover all of our state, including those rural upstate communities that have yet to be mapped at all.
Maybe FEMA is running out of money. Is the denial of Individual Assistance by FEMA for the Halloween storm in NY the result of belt-tightening because of a need to cut payouts? In August several news sources including The US News and World Report reported that $271 million was reallocated out of the Department of Homeland security budget, and this money included $155 million taken away from the Disaster Relief Fund run by FEMA. Does this mean that we are on our own? If we are, we need a program in NY State to deal with flood damage and buyouts.
In December 2019 I wrote about the Griffo-Butterschon Flood buyout bill introduced in late 2019.
New York State Senate Deputy Minority Leader Joseph Griffo (R -Rome, District 47), and Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon (D-Marcy, 119th District) introduced legislation (S6893) on 6 Dec 2019 that would create a NY State buyout program for flood-damaged homes. This program would be separate from existing FEMA buyout programs, which require a higher total damage threshold.
This proposed program would have the State step in and assume a role that FEMA plays now, and this could occur when damage does not reach high threshold levels. Perhaps this is a needed solution in more rural areas.
Update (16 January 2020):
On 13 January 2020 NY State appealed the decision in a letter sent from NY Commissioner Patrick Murphy to Thomas Von Essen, the regional administrator for FEMA in region II. The appeal was for FEMA to reconsider denial of Individual Assistance in Essex, Hamilton, Herkimer, and Oneida counties.
Patrick Murphy notes in the letter that a request from NYS as to the rational behind the denial went unanswered. But the crux of the letter focused on the new FEMA methodology used to calculate fiscal capacity and resource availability of a state. In June 2019, rule changes at FEMA were enacted that had the effect of raising the threshold level for states with large urban centers (cities) where the total taxable revenue is higher. This undoubtedly is a way of closing the spigot and shifting the financial costs from the Federal government to States. But the rule change favors rural states and puts states with cities at a disadvantage. Ironically this rule change puts rural areas in Upstate NY at a disadvantage because of the high total taxable income Downstate (i.e. NY City). Murphy wrote:
The inclusion of the U.S. Treasury Department's 'Total Taxable Revenue" to calculate a state's fiscal capacity ratio (i.e. IHP Cost to Capacity or ICC ratio) disadvantages states with large population centers with major financial institutions like New York, California, and Illinois. Prior to the implementation of the new factors , a declared storm that produced $5.4 million in estimated damage would have had a 42 percent probability of receiving aid for homeowners to rebuild and repair their homes. Under the new methodology to calculate a state's fiscal capacity, New York State has only 10 percent probability of success with that same level of damage.
Murphy then puts this in perspective. Given the apparent capacity of NY State using the new FEMA threshold guidelines we would need to have 400 destroyed homes to have a 45% probability of receiving FEMA aid, and we would have an 85% probability of success if 1200 homes were destroyed. The new rules at FEMA means states like NY will only qualify for Individual Assistance in large catastrophic events.
We now wait and see if the appeal by the Governor is successful, but for now it’s time to write elected officials and tell them where you stand.
This and other Notes from a Watershed are available at: https://mohawk.substack.com/