Senators Urge FEMA To Reverse Decision Denying New York Flood Aid

Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are urging FEMA to reconsider its decision to deny New York State's recent appeal of FEMA's initial denial of a disaster declaration for last summer's flooding.

The senators say 15 counties -- including Oneida, Herkimer and Madison -- were devastated by flooding and severe storms from June 30th to July 24th of 2017.

Schumer and Gillibrand say the flooding caused tens of million of dollars in damage that the counties are still struggling to address and called FEMA's denial shortsighted.

They're asking FEMA to immediately reconsider the decision and give the counties the tools they need to make critical repairs and prepare for future storms.

After months of waiting for FEMA to do its job and help our state recover from the devastating storms last summer, I am outraged that FEMA is denying New Yorkers the funding our state urgently needs,” said Gillibrand. “I urge FEMA to immediately reverse this decision. Millions of New Yorkers across some of the hardest-hit areas of our state are doing everything they can on their own to rebuild, but without FEMA’s assistance, our state will not be able to fully recover from these natural disasters. There should be no excuses – FEMA has a responsibility to step in and help, and they need to do it now.”