Municipal officials from across storm-battered Nassau County gathered in Williston Park Tuesday at a Nassau County Village Officials Association meeting that featured speeches from FEMA representatives and the president of East Meadow-based Electrical Inspectors Inc.
John Christensen, an emergency management specialist with FEMA, spoke in work clothes in front of the more nattily attired crowd, telling the officials that FEMA was dedicated to supporting the recovery efforts of local governments.
“Our purpose for being here is to get money out to the local communities,” Christensen said.
Infrastructure repair and tree removal could both be reimbursed by the federal government if municipalities apply for public assistance, Christensen said.
While Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called on Congress to pass legislation allowing FEMA to reimburse 100 percent of the emergency costs from Hurricane Sandy, the current formula is slightly less generous – FEMA can cover three quarters of repair costs, with the state taking another 12.5 percent and local governments liable for the remainder.
Christensen said FEMA is trying to make the funding application as easy as possible for affected communities.
“We’ve really streamlined the process,” he said.
Christen said that damage from Wednesday’s Noreaster was still eligible for FEMA assistance.
Also speaking was Rich Bivone, the president of Electrical Inspectors Incorporated, who described an overwhelming week of assessing damaged homes so that power could be safely restored.
“People still don’t understand the magnitude of what happened on the South Shore,” he said.
Bivone said that he partnered with other inspected services to offer free emergency surveys, but was faced with unprecedented demand.
He and his partners at one point received more than 100,000 phone calls as increasingly desperate residents from across the island tried to regain electricity, Bivone said.
People were misinformed by the media about his business’ practices during the storm recovery, according to Bivone, who said that he made no money from storm inspections that were necessary to ensure that damaging salt water had not made contact with electrical equipment.
He also praised Nassau County fire fighters who volunteered to assist with the inspections.
“The firefighters of Nassau County – they’re true heroes,” Bivone said.
