Governor Janet Mills has requested that President Joe Biden issue Major Disaster Declarations to help Western Maine recover from June storms that brought heavy rainfall and flooding that caused more than $9 million in infrastructure damage.
In letters sent yesterday to the President, Governor Mills said that storms that occurred on June 26 in Oxford County and on June 29 in Franklin County resulted in public infrastructure damage that is beyond the State’s capability to address. If the President approves the Governor’s requests, Maine would gain access to federal funds it could use to repair the damage.
“With the increased frequency and intensity of storm events in Maine over the last 24 months, emergency management officials across all levels of government have been stretched in their fiscal and programmatic capacity to respond to and recover from disasters,” Governor Mills wrote in her letter to the President regarding the storm in Franklin County (PDF).
Although the weather events occurred only a few days apart, because they were caused by separate storm systems, Maine must request a declaration for each storm. On July 10th, Maine formally requested a Joint Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) for Public Assistance for Franklin County from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). On-site assessments validated $6,511,535 in infrastructure damage. On July 18th, Maine formally requested a PDA for Oxford County, which validated $2,625,214 in infrastructure damage.
“It has been verified that all of the damaged infrastructure included in the validation process is not eligible for commercially available insurance, and therefore, all repair costs must be covered by local government taxpayers if Federal assistance is not obtained. Due to the extent of infrastructure damages, State resources are not adequate to meet local recovery needs,” Governor Mills wrote in her letter to the President regarding Oxford County (PDF).
The requests submitted by the Governor are specifically for Public Assistance (PA) Program and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. FEMA’s Public Assistance Program provides supplemental grants to State, local, and Tribal governments so communities can quickly respond to and recover from major disasters or emergencies. The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program provides funding to State, local, and Tribal and governments so they can develop hazard mitigation plans and rebuild in a way that reduces, or mitigates, future disaster losses in their communities.