Stonington To Apply For FEMA Assistance

Municipal representatives from New London county convened at the Stonington Police Department Monday to be briefed on the process of applying for public assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for costs related to tropical storm Irene.

Eligible applicants can claim the cost of damage to facilities during the storm, but for the most part, Stonington's reimbursement will cover work related costs, which includes the salaries and use of equipment related to debris removal.

"We're estimating around $250,000, which is some labor but a bulk of that is equipment usage," said Finance Director Maryanna Stevens.

Stevens said equipment usage is based on the number of hours workers were used the equipment for storm-related purposes, and $120,000 to $130,000 of Stonington's claim is for equipment usage.

Stevens said the other big-ticket items are small by comparison. The seawall on Noyes Avenue can be repaired for approximately $10,000; electrical damage at the town dock can be repaired for about $5,000 and a broken lamp at Donahue Park can be replaced for $1,000.

George Brennan, Stonington's director of emergency management, said the town's emergency operations center received calls for 106 incidents during the storm.

"Most of our damage was to trees and power lines," he said. "We had some houses damaged but nothing major."

All counties in Connecticut were declared a disaster area after a preliminary assessment by FEMA determined that each had damage that exceeded a certain threshold. More than $ 3,754,940 in damage was done in New London county, which makes all municipalities and some private non-profit entities in the county eligible for public assistance.

The deadline for public assistance applications is Oct. 2 and the reimbursement rate will vary by project from 75 percent to 90 percent, said Dana Conover, FEMA's the public assistance coordinator for Connecticut.