Flood-Impacted Residents, Businesses Face Tomorrow Deadline for Federal Benefits

By Hugh McQuaid

November 18 @ 11:30 am

Connecticut residents whose homes or businesses were damaged as a result of historic flooding in August have until tomorrow, Nov. 19, to apply for two federal disaster assistance programs, Gov. Ned Lamont announced last week.

Recovery assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration is still available for those in Fairfield County, Litchfield County, and New Haven County impacted by damage during the Aug. 18 storm.

Those who have not yet submitted applications to FEMA can do so at DisasterAssistance.gov or in-person at the town hall in Southbury, which is located at 501 Main St. and will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Alternatively, FEMA will accept applications over the phone at 1-800-621-3362.

Meanwhile, businesses seeking to submit applications to the SBA can file online at SBA.gov/disaster, over the phone at 1-800-877-8339, or in person at the Business Recovery Center at the Oxford Town Hall, located at 486 Oxford Road. The center will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“At this point, we believe that the overwhelming majority of people who experienced damage from this storm and need disaster assistance have already begun the application process, but we want to remind anyone who may be waiting that they need to get their applications in by the November 19 deadline,” Lamont said in a press release.

The benefits offered by the two federal agencies are intended to supplement other disaster recovery efforts and will not completely compensate residents for all damages caused by the August storm.

As of Thursday, around $5.9 million in federal benefits had already been distributed to 278 small businesses and nonprofit organizations whose operations were damaged by the storm, according to the Lamont administration. Applications for those grants were accepted between early September and October.

In a statement, Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Daniel O’Keefe said the program had worked as intended.

“The grants gave these small businesses a lifeline when they needed it most and acted as a critical bridge to accessing the federal resources that came later in the recovery process,” O’Keefe said.