$5 million available immediately for storm cleanup(FEMA Reynolds District)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.wstm.com/Global/story.asp?S=5541856&nav=2aKD

Five (m) million dollars in federal money has been approved for immediate use in the cleanup of the Buffalo snowstorm.

Congressman Tom Reynolds announced the money from Federal Emergency Management Agency today.

Almost 300-thousand homes and businesses in the region remain without power today, almost three days after the storm dumped nearly two feet of snow on a slice of western New York.

The FEMA money will be made available immediately to local municipalities for cleanup help.

FEMA officials are still assessing the storm damage. The federal government has not declared the region a disaster area, but Governor Pataki has requested it. A declaration would free up even more federal aid.

This smells. This is an area that's used to dealing with snow. Buffalo are you in an emergency any different than previous years and did you get Fed money then? Trying to buy reelection for Reynolds?

On edit looks like Schumer and Clinton also after the money. I know at this time of year the snow is a flood danger.

http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/politics/?ArID=194955&SecID=285

Nearly two feet of snow buried the Buffalo area Friday, and now a flood watch is in effect as the snow begins to melt.

Temperatures yesterday were in the 40s, causing the snow to melt quickly. There are also still more than 200,000 people without power. Travel bans were lifted yesterday, and the airport is now back open.

Yesterday, Senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton toured Erie County. They are promising Federal aid to help the region recover.

“Often in times like this that show Buffalo at its best and it’s hard to believe any other city the people could do so well and perform so well under the circumstances,” Schumer said.

To be fair - here's report from Buffalo - I should've checked first before wondering.

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20061015/1046504.asp

Hundreds of thousands of area residents spent a third cold night without heat and electricity and woke this morning learning that it could be another week or more before power returns.
Just a day after promising service would be restored in three to four days, National Grid reversed itself and said the massive restoration effort may take until next weekend.

Officials from National Grid and NYSEG told county leaders that all customers cannot expect to be back on line until midnight a week from today. More than 1,000 workers in the field are doing everything they can to restore power as quickly as possible, utility executives said, but they emphasized again the extent of the power failure is unlike anything they have ever seen here.

"By any measure, it's the most significant storm damage we've ever experienced in Western New York . . . and that goes back well over a hundred years," William F. Edwards, National Grid distribution president, told reporters.

That was not welcome news for hundreds of thousands living in homes without heat, enduring three nights of mid-30-degree temperatures and facing at least two upcoming nights with similar forecasts.

[Kittycat]

1. How convenient. How about Hawaii?

n/m

[trashcanistanista]

2. Stinks to high heaven!

2 feet of snow that has mostly melted is not a disaster in my book. Especially in Buffalo! In October? Blatant BS. How do you spend 5 million$ to clean up melted snow?

[KittyWampus]

4. over a quater million people still without power. May take another week

as many as HALF of the trees in the area are damaged/lost.

You have no idea how devastated the region is... cause the media seems not to be reporting it.

Residents report it looks like a bomb went for all the tree damage.

[krkaufman]

11. Saw that on the news last week. Early snow with leaves still on trees....

.... caused a lot of the damage. News was saying if the storm had come just a few weeks later, after the leaves had dropped, there would have been few issues.

[aquart]

3. Yes, it smells. But, yes, also, this storm was different.

If you've been watching the news, this storm hit while the trees were still leafy and green. As a result, the snow couldn't pass thru and the weight took down hundreds of trees and powerlines. It's a scary mess. Yes, Buffalo is used to snow. This was different.

And if its congressman was a Democrat they could damn well whistle for aid and we all know it.

[RamboLiberal]

8. Thanks for the report - don't begrudge you the money

Being a weekend of course media isn't covering and now you got eclipsed by earthquake in Hawaii. I hadn't thought about the trees not having lost their leaves being a big factor.

But it is amazing how quickly this WH reacts in an election year especially in an embattled district or state (remember Florida hurricanes during '04).

[Critters2]

5. So, the Buffalo area is pretty blue, huh? nt

[madrchsod]

6. a northern politically important state

not like that non important political state in the south that has a lot bad people...

[Earth_First]

7. Funny how quickly relief comes when your trailing your competitor by 16...

Give 'em hell Jack !

[TheWraith]

9. It is very different this time.

Not to downplay the opportunism, but we've got over a quarter million people without power, some of whom may be that way for over another week; trees down; lines down, buildings damaged; and shipments delayed to towns as much as 30 miles away.

Yes, we're used to snow. But a major snowstorm in October is virtually unheard of. The plows hadn't been mobilized yet, and it was a heavy wet snow that did massive damage to trees all over the area. It's been estimated that 90% of the trees lining Buffalo's four major parkways have been damaged, many critically. And the county was virtually bankrupt before this happened.

[Lisa]

10. leaves still on the trees -- makes things much worse

Similar situation in the UK during that late-1980s windstorm -- some of the counties lost more than half their trees, because the wind resistance created so much pressure on the trunks and root systems.

I was born and raised just across the border from Buffalo ... my folks still live there, and caught the edge of the system as it went through. (They remember the 1930s and lived without electricity -- still have a closetful of blankets so they're okay when the power goes out. Last time this happened, they heated water on the gas grill outside and were going around serving hot coffee and soup to the neighbors!)