Deadline is Oct. 31 for Lake Ontario homeowners to apply for relief funding
Press Release, State Assemblyman Steve Hawley
As Lake Ontario’s southern shoreline recovers after unprecedented flooding this past spring and summer, Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) is encouraging impacted residents and businesses to apply for relief funding through the Lake Ontario Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative (REDI).
The Department of Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) is administering a 2019 Individual Homeowner Assistance Program that will provide residents in the impacted eight-county region up to $50,000 in state funding to help offset damages to their primary residences.
Funding to address damages to secondary homes may be considered following fulfillment of primary residence applications and Hawley is encouraging secondary homeowners to apply before the October deadline.
“Lake Ontario’s unprecedented high water levels and subsequent flooding the past several years have caused a great deal of destruction to homes and businesses along the shoreline, but we are implementing a package of state aid that will put us on the road to recovery,” Hawley said. “It is crucial that those who were impacted by flooding submit their applications before October 31 to become eligible. I am eager to work with state and local leaders to see that homeowners, businesses and municipalities receive the help they need moving forward.”
Applicants are eligible to receive funding for costs not covered by other sources, such as insurance, and include primary homeowners who reside in the eight counties associated with REDI – Cayuga, Jefferson, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans, Oswego, St. Lawrence and Wayne – and meet the below criteria:
Homeowners who were impacted by flooding January 1, 2019 through September 30, 2019. Applications must be received by October 31, 2019.
Applications must address damage incurred to primary residences, which sustained direct physical flood-related damage that threatens the safety of the home.
Click here for more information.
(Editor’s Note: The state also has $30 million available for businesses through the Lake Ontario Business Resiliency Program with grants of up to $200,000 to eligible applicants who experienced direct physical flood-related damage due to the high-water levels from Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River in 2019. Eligible applicant types are expected to include small businesses, not-for-profit organizations, farms, homeowners’ associations and owners of rental properties. For inquiries related to the Lake Ontario Business Resiliency Program, please email LakeOntario@esd.ny.gov.)
