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BEDFORD HILLS, N.Y.— The damage created by the October 29 snowstorm did not reach the threshold needed to require state funding, says the Westchester County Department of Emergency Services. After an assessment by the New York State Office of Emergency Management, the damage done in New York State amounted to approximately $8.4 million, falling well short of the nearly $25 million mark needed to necessitate funding.
In an email sent out to the municipalities of New York on Thursday morning, Jennifer Wacha, the director of the Office of Emergency Management in Westchester, described to the recipients that the state did not meet the requirements for a “major declaration, and that the NYSOEM “advised that they would not be pursuing emergency declaration.”
One of the many recipients of the email was Supervisor Lee V.A Roberts of Bedford, who was gravely disheartened to discover the great damage done to her town, and the acts to repair it, will not be funded by the state.
“The October snow storm was punishing to us; we lost so many trees. We’re still working on the cleanup,” she said. “It’s going to be very, very expensive, and we’re not going to be reimbursed for it. That’s very bad news.”
Paired with Hurricane Irene towards the end of August, the unseasonable snowstorm gave Bedford, and Westchester County, a tough following act. And in some cases, including Bedford, it was tougher.
“When you think of the Hurricane in Bedford, it wasn’t anything compared. We lost so much [in the snowstorm], there was so much damage, and the pickup was enormous,” Roberts said. “We have been fortunate it hasn’t snowed again. We’ll be into February with pickup; it’s a killer.”
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