Help Is Here

The remnants of Hurricane Ida drenched Rockland, New York City and parts of the Hudson Valley with incredible amounts of rain back on September 1st. Roads, cars, basements, homes and businesses were flooded and damaged; many in areas that rarely have to worry about this level of flooding. And this was after our Highway Department and Drainage Agency inspected and cleared catch basins, culverts and bridges as part of their standard operating procedure before the storm hit.

We know how badly residents were hit by this storm, I heard from many of you directly via phone, email or social media. Our Office of Fire and Emergency Services spent weeks coordinating visits between homeowners, business owners and local municipalities and inspectors from FEMA and New York State. Our team worked incredibly hard to get Rockland included in the Federal Disaster Emergency Declaration and were ultimately successful.

And while those who experienced damage can apply online at DisasterAssistance.gov or through the FEMA mobile app, this is not a simple process; nothing involving the Federal government ever is. We advocated and worked with our Federal representatives, Congressman Jones, Senator Schumer and Senator Gillibrand, to open a FEMA Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) here in Rockland to assist you in navigating this process.

The Rockland County DRC is open daily from 8 AM – 7 PM at the Orangetown Soccer Complex Building, 175 Old Orangeburg Road, Orangeburg, NY. My thanks to Orangetown Supervisor Teresa Kenny and the regular tenant in this building the Orangetown Metro Sports Club for their help in providing this convenient location for residents to visit for help.

I toured the DRC recently with Congressman Mondaire Jones, State Senator Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, Assemblyman Mike Lawler and Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski. Representatives from FEMA, the US Small Business Administration and other state and federal agencies are there to help. We all encourage you to make use of this facility and these resources while they are here.

Let’s make sure anyone who experienced damage during Hurricane Ida has access to this facility so that we can get them and all of Rockland back on their feet faster!