June 26, 2023
Governor Janet Mills has requested that President Joe Biden issue a Major Disaster Declaration for eight Maine counties impacted by a severe spring storm that brought heavy rain and wind that created flooding, swelling rivers, power outages, tree damage, and more than $2 million in infrastructure damage.
In a letter sent today to the President, Governor Mills said that the impacts of the storm that occurred on April 30 and May 1 resulted in public infrastructure damage that is beyond the State’s capability to address. The Governor requested that the President issue a Disaster Declaration for Franklin, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Oxford, Sagadahoc, Somerset, and Waldo Counties.
“It has been verified that all of the damaged infrastructure included in the validation process is not eligible for commercially available insurance coverage, and, therefore, all repair costs must be covered by local government taxpayers if Federal assistance is not obtained,” Governor Mills wrote in her letter to the President. “Due to the widespread nature and extent of infrastructure damages, State resources are not adequate to meet local recovery needs.”
On May 12th, Maine formally requested a Joint Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) for Public Assistance. On-site assessments were conducted across a total of nine counties between May 29th and June 2nd, and a total of three virtual assessments occurred between the dates of May 26th and June 9th. The assessment validated $2,978,440 in infrastructure damage.
The requests 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.
