During a visit to Steuben County to tour damaged areas on Sunday, Governor Kathy Hochul announced emergency assistance to support homeowners impacted by the remnants of Hurricane Debby.
At Governor Hochul’s direction, New York Homes and Community Renewal is launching an emergency repair program for homeowners in Steuben, Allegany, Delaware, Franklin, and St. Lawrence Counties impacted by the storm. Additionally, staff from the New York State Department of Financial Services will be deployed to impacted communities to support residents and businesses with financial services questions. As these state-based resources are deployed, disaster recovery experts from the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services have begun working with their local counterparts to assess damage statewide in order to determine the state’s ability to request federal disaster relief resources from FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Below is a partial transcript of the Governor’s remarks from Canisteo are below:
“It’s got charming small towns and little hamlets that I’ve been through so many times. It’s what makes New York special, places like this. Places like Addison, Woodhull and where we are today, in Canisteo.
The remnants of Hurricane Debby that we saw coming up and – put in place plans and brought our teams together early on to try to figure out the trajectory of this storm. Bringing people, our teams from the state, together early. We just wanted to try and see if we could prevent what has happened here.
This storm washed away people’s lives and their dreams. Businesses, farms up the road, homes, schools destroyed in matters of seconds. It makes me heart sick to know what the people have gone through. It’s more than really what one would expect anyone to have to bear. Young families starting out, building the home of their dreams over five years, three beautiful daughters, escaping barely with their lives.
I think it’s miraculous that there are no major injuries or fatalities. That is astounding to me. And as the Governor, I’m committing to help this community come back. Because in a moment of crisis, we stand as one New York. Do not think that this remote part of our state – in some eyes – does not have as much value as every single place. From our biggest cities to the furthest reaches of this state, every community matters. It has value.
So, I’ve already heard from some of our neighbors here that people think they’ll be forgotten, that elected officials don’t come from this part of the state. Well, I’m the first Upstate Governor in over 100 years. I know these communities. This is where I come from. You will not be forgotten.
And I brought the best of the best with me. I have the Commissioner of the entire DOT for all of New York, Marie Therese Dominguez is here. She has over 200 people on the ground here trying to bring these roads back, fix the bridges, because these are the lifelines. We still have people who are stranded, have to walk miles because their connections to other parts of the community have been destroyed by this storm; bridges and roads washed out.”
Photos provided by Governor Kathy Hochul’s Office:
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