As parts of the Capital Region and Hudson Valley recover from heavy rain and flooding that hit the area Wednesday, Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin is “hopeful” New York State will be eligible for disaster relief funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to support recovery efforts.
Rensselaer and other counties will start calculating the damage from the storm, McLaughlin said. If the destruction is severe enough, the state will apply for federal assistance from FEMA, but that's not certain.
“It’s way too early to tell whether it does or not,” McLaughlin said Thursday. “We’re hopeful that it will, but sometimes you think it’s going to, and it’s just not enough damage, even though it seems like the damage is pretty extensive and widespread out there. So, we’ll wait and see what happens.”
County and state officials toured the damage Thursday to discuss repairs and calculate damages.
Rensselaer and Columbia counties bore the brunt of the heavy rain that caused flooding in much of the Capital Region, Hudson Valley and Catskills, according to the National Weather Service. The Town of Schodack, located in southern Rensselaer County, received just under a foot of rain.
The adverse weather claimed the life of one Sullivan County man, 39-year-old Jesus Arroyo Ortega, who was found dead in the fast-moving waters of North Callicoon Creek after his truck crashed into a utility pole early Wednesday morning.
No one was injured in Rensselaer County, which McLaughlin credits to first responders and to residents who largely stayed off the roads.
Crews are still working to repair roads, remove felled trees and pump water out of basements in the area.
“Now the cleanup begins,” McLaughlin said. “So, the worst of it is over. Cleanup, we'll get that done as quickly as we can.”
