Blizzard relief: Pa., N.J. in line for federal aid
Pennsylvania and New Jersey stand to receive more than $85 million in federal disaster money to pay for costs associated with the January blizzard.
Pennsylvania and New Jersey stand to receive more than $85 million in federal disaster money to pay for costs associated with the January blizzard.
President Obama signed a "major disaster" declaration Wednesday that made Federal Emergency Management Agency funds available to 22 of the 67 counties in Pennsylvania. He signed a similar declaration last week for 17 of New Jersey's 22 counties.
Locally, Bucks, Burlington, Camden, Chester, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties qualified for the assistance under the complicated federal requirements for damage thresholds.
The Shore counties, hammered by near-hurricane-force gusts and inundated by severe coastal flooding, also qualified.
In New Jersey, state officials reviewed $82.6 million in damage before submitting a disaster application to the federal government.
The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency said its initial assessment, which includes costs in all eligible counties, was $37 million.
"It was such a magnitude that it pretty much wipes out some of these local entities' budgets," said Ron Roth, FEMA's external affairs officer. "Because this was a snow event of record proportion, it met that criteria."
The emergency declaration, made two months after the blizzard, calls for reimbursing no less than 75 percent of eligible expenses from a 48-hour period during the storm.
In Philadelphia, 22.4 inches of snow was measured officially at Philadelphia International Airport. Parts of Chester and Montgomery Counties reported 30 inches.
The emergency declaration for the Jan. 22-23 storm marks the first time Pennsylvania has received a disaster declaration for a winter storm since 2010, when back-to-back February storms left 44 inches of snow on Philadelphia.
And this was only the second such declaration in 20 years.
In Pennsylvania, Montgomery County and its municipalities and school districts reported spending a total of $5.27 million.
FEMA is still reviewing documentation to determine which costs are eligible. The agency ultimately will set percentages of costs to be reimbursed to the applicants.
Roth said that process typically takes several months.
Other Pennsylvania counties receiving the disaster declaration were: Adams, Bedford, Berks, Blair, Cumberland, Dauphin, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Northampton, Perry, Schuylkill, Somerset, Westmoreland, and York.
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Snow, but no $$
Only twice in the last 20 years have federal disasters been declared for winter storms.
Here are some that didn't qualify under U.S. requirements:
Feb. 16-17, 2003: Presidents Day storm, 18.7 inches officially in Philadelphia.
Dec. 19-20, 2009: 23.2 inches.
Jan. 27-28, 2011: 15.1 inches.
Feb. 3-5, 2014: Massive snow and ice storm, hundreds of thousands of power outages.