Gov. Wolf Seeks Federal Disaster Aid For Blizzard Cleanup

Last month’s blizzard in Pennsylvania came with a hefty price tag. According to Governor Tom Wolf, municipal, county and state agencies paid more than $55 million to respond to the storm.

Now, the governor is seeking federal aid to help Pennsylvania pay for the storm that brought record snowfall to the region. Gov. Wolf on Monday announced he has sent a letter to the president requesting a major disaster be declared in Pennsylvania so the state can get federal assistance.

In many places, the storm “wiped out an entire year’s budget for snow response and removal, and winter isn’t over yet,” the governor said.

In order to qualify for federal aid, counties must meet specific federal criteria:

• A record or near-record snowfall event must occur within the county;
• The costs to the county and municipalities for snow removal operations during a continuous 48-hour period and any other costs for emergency protective measures must exceed the county per capita threshold of $3.56; and
• The total costs of all counties meeting both criteria must exceed the state threshold of $17.9 million.

If the Governor’s request is approved, applicants can be reimbursed up to 75 percent of the costs incurred on eligible expenses, which include overtime, equipment rentals, materials, search and rescue operations and operating shelters.

The counties that met both record or near record snowfall totals and county costs are: Adams, Bedford, Berks, Blair, Bucks, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Mifflin, Montgomery, Northampton, Perry, Philadelphia, Schuylkill, Somerset, Snyder, Westmoreland, and York.

The overall estimated total costs that are associated with this request are $55,468,967, which exceeds the state public assistance threshold of $17,910,354, the governor’s office said in a statement.