In the wake of a major ice storm that left homes and businesses across the Northeast in the dark and resulted in at least two deaths, Sen. Charles Schumer and Gov. David Paterson held a press conference on Monday, Dec. 15, at the Niskayuna Town Hall to update the public about the efforts they are making to receive federal aid to help in the relief effort.
First, we’ve asked for an immediate emergency declaration for 16 counties that were hit by the storm, said Schumer. `Inside every home is a person who is concerned or worried. These are the times when all levels of government have to help.`
According to a spokesperson from National Grid, after the storm hit the region, a peak total of 229,000 homes were without power on Friday, Dec. 12. By 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 15, National Grid had restored power to about 175,000 customers.
However, they said that a forecast of inclement weather might hamper efforts to restore power for those who are still left in the dark.
`Right now we are still sticking to the announcement we made [on Sunday] that we’re hoping to completely restore power before the end of the day on Wednesday, and that is weather pending because we do have more wind coming and ice, which will present challenges. If that happens, we might have to change that deadline,` said Courtney Quatrino, a spokeswoman for National Grid.
But restoring power is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the recovery efforts to help the area get back into full working order. Many homes were damaged, and there is still an enormous amount of debris that needs to be cleaned up.
`We’re having crews come along to pick up all the branches [from in front of homes] and they’ll continue to be out every day picking up branches,` said Niskayuna Town Supervisor Joe Landry.
Joined by Schenectady Mayor Brian Stratton; Schenectady County Legislator Susan Savage, D-Niskayuna; U.S. Representative-Elect Paul Tonko; Landry; and others, Paterson and Schumer said that the area is expecting about $5 million in federal aid so that taxpayers aren’t left with as much of a financial burden in cleaning up the aftermath of the storm.
`We need to get out there [and continue] seeing what further ways we can help,` said Paterson. `There are still 94,000 customers without power. There are still 70 schools that are closed and we’re finding that we still have a lot more work to wage.`
At the press conference, they said they had written emergency letters to President George W. Bush and David Paulison, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, requesting emergency declaration designation for the area. These efforts would launch federal funds.
As of Monday afternoon, one-third of Niskayuna was still without power. Landry said that he expects cleanup costs for the town to total in somewhere between $400,000 and $500,000.
`We’re very optimistic having the governor and the senator here that we’ll be able to get some aid, so we’ll be putting in an application, and were hoping to get reimbursed for that,` said Landry.
After the press conference, Schumer and Paterson took a tour of Niskayuna to look at the wreckage from the storm.
`FEMA administrator David Paulison believes that we will get the funds soon,` said Schumer. `The governor and I are going to do everything we can to make sure that [the area receives help].`
Paterson urged residents to take precautions and stay safe.
`These are very difficult times in our state, but New York demonstrates an insuperable ability to come forth in times like this. I want to urge people in the public to be very careful. We just want to urge all of our citizens to be safe,` said Paterson.
Visit www.spotlightnews.com for updated information on recovery efforts.
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