Costs of March Storm Qualify Westchester For Federal Aid

March's powerful wind storm not only knocked out power and created a nightmare for commuters, it left behind an expensive cleanup project for local governments all over Westchester.

The storm cost Harrison $62,000 in overtime pay alone, according to Mayor/Supervisor Joan Walsh. Now the town is working with Westchester County to receive some federal help with footing the bill - and it might happen.

According to an e-mail from the Westchester County Department of Emergency Services, more than enough costs and damages from the storm have been identified within the state and county to apply for federal aid. 

In order to apply, the state must identify $25.5 million in damages while individual counties must identify just under $3 million. Since each of those thresholds have been reached, the state can apply for a Federal Disaster Declaration - which Governor David Paterson did on March 29.

Other affected New York counties include Nassau, Orange, Richmond and Suffolk. 

"While the state continues to do everything possible for the residents affected by this devastating storm, we need federal disaster assistance to help these communities recover," Paterson said in a statement. "The same counties affected by the March 2010 nor'easter were pounded by repeated record breaking snow storms in December and February, which cost the state and local governments more than $45 million."

But President Obama must make a presidential disaster declaration in the area in order for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to send any aid, which has yet to happen.

"He (Obama) has to declare it, it means nothing until the federal government acts on it," said Jennifer Wacha, director of the Westchester County department of emergency services. "We are just waiting to see."

If the request is approved, local municipalities would be allowed to apply for help with a variety of costs related to the storm. These expenses include both overtime and straight pay for town employees who worked with cleanup and for materials used to combat the storm. 

The exact amount Harrison would receive is unknown at this time and would be determined by FEMA and New York State if the declaration is signed.

Mayor Walsh was quick to point out that the president signed a disaster declaration for parts of Rhode Island after the same storm. The declaration has freed that state to apply for federal assistance. New York, meanwhile, has not heard back as of Tuesday.

She added that relief money would obviously be helpful, especially with the town budget already stretched and a bad hurricane season predicted to bring more storms to the East Coast later this year.

But Wacha said that the process is out of the county and local government's hands at this point, and that if, or when, the aid would be approved by the president is unknown.

"It varies, it completely varies," she said. "It's something that is completely out of our control so it really depends upon how their assessment process, their evaluation process, of it goes."