FEMA Says $1 Million Doled out to RI for Historic January Blizzard

The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Monday that it has delivered more than $1 million in federal assistance to help cover the costs of the historic blizzard that buried Rhode Island in January.

The severe storm ground nearly everything to a halt — aside from plow crews —for a three day period between Jan. 26 and 28. The state highways were shut down, all of the state’s major bridges were closed and damage from the near-hurricane force winds and massive snowfall was widespread.

And the relentless snow blew out the snow removal budgets for many cities and towns.

“The January storm was a three-day event that drained the coffers of many affected communities,” said Pete Gaynor, the State Coordinating Officer and Director of Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency. “The federal dollars are assisting local governments by replenishing city budgets in time for what could be another record breaking winter.”

The exact total FEMA reported doling out for “emergency protective measures during and after the blizzard and for snow removal” is $1,097,967.

The blizzard posed the first major challenge for newly-elected Governor Gina Raimondo. She requested preliminary damage assessments from each of Rhode Island’s counties right after the storm and sent them to FEMA with request for a federal disaster declaration.

The declaration was approved by President Barack Obama in early April.

The request for a disaster declaration was based on a joint Federal Emergency Management Agency and state preliminary damage assessment cost estimate of $4.7 million associated with the storm.

FEMA’s Public Assistance Program offers federal money for up to 75 percent of the approved cost for “assistance categories such as debris removal, emergency services related to the disaster, and for repairing or replacing damaged public facilities such as roads, buildings and utilities,” according to a news release.