Despite the severe thunderstorms that continue to cause damage across the Capital District, Schenectady County will see no federal assistance for storm-related repairs.
It is an extreme financial burden to the county, said William VanHoesen, county director of emergency management. `We are in tight budgetary times, and here is this expense that we can’t get any assistance with.`
VanHoesen said every county and state must meet a damage threshold in order to qualify for federal assistance. He said while the county has reached its $460,000 threshold with more than $3 million worth of damage, the state has not yet reached its $23 million threshold, and therefore, the county will not see any relief.
`The initial rounds of storms caused a great deal of severe damage,` VanHoesen said.
Three county roads are still closed following the storms, which began Wednesday, July 23.
County workers are still trying to save a culvert running beneath Old Route 30 on the border of Duanesburg and Esperance in Schoharie County. The culvert became clogged during heavy storms, causing a Schoharie Creek tributary to sweep away a large portion of road surface. The road is still closed from the damage last month.
Muscle Back Road, also in Duanesburg, is closed because there is scouring on the footing, according to VanHoesen.
In Glenville, Wolf Hollow Road is still closed from the storm damage.
He said the hardest hit areas were Rotterdam, Princetown, Duanesburg and Glenville.
Rotterdam Town Supervisor Steven Tommasone said he did not have a hard figure as to how much damage the town sustained.
`It’s hard at this time to quantify the damage, but we don’t anticipate it to negatively affect us with regard to the budget,` Tommasone said.
VanHoesen said the county experienced additional problems last weekend and Monday, Aug. 11, as rain soaked the Capital District, flooding many areas of Rensselaer County, where a state of emergency was declared.
`We look at this as a continuance of storms that continue to damage property,` VanHoesen said.
He said roads are not the only infrastructure damaged by the continuing storms. He said private property, including homes and driveways have been damaged by the forceful storms.
More than 100 connections between driveways and county roads were repaired over the past weeks after they were washed away.
Despite the county’s ability to make repairs, he said several homeowners are having difficulty finding money to repair their damaged property because of the lack of federal assistance.
If the state met its damage threshold, county homeowners could apply for individual assistance to make repairs on their homes.
VanHoesen said he knows of at least 40 homes that have sustained damage as a result of the storms. He said it is frustrating to see homeowners who cannot receive assistance for repairs because their insurance does not cover flood damage, and there is no federal assistance available.
With the continuation of storms, VanHoesen said it is possible that the state will meet its damage threshold and receive federal assistance for both individual and public repairs.“