State sets aside $20 million to help homeowners with this year’s Lake Ontario flooding
Photo by Tom Rivers: Members of the National Guard work to put sandbags by a house on Lake Ontario in Carlton on June 2. This house is on the peninsula with Johnson Creek near Kuckville.
Homeowner application process will begin on October 1
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced homeowners affected by this year’s Lake Ontario flooding can apply for up to $50,000 in state assistance to help offset damages to their primary residences. The homeowner application period will begin Oct. 1 and will close Oct. 31.
The state is making $20 million available for homeowners out of a $300 million set aside in the Lake Ontario Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative, or REDI.
“Hundreds of homeowners and businesses experienced significant damage to their properties during this year’s record breaking flooding on Lake Ontario,” Governor Cuomo said. “As we continue to invest in strengthening infrastructure along the shoreline for the long term, we are also helping homeowners in the near term get the resources they need to make necessary repairs to their homes. This critical funding will help those homeowners devastated by flooding build back stronger than before.”
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 Jan. 1, 2019 through September 30, 2019 are entitled to apply for funding.
• Applications received between October 1, 2019 and October 31, 2019.
• Priority will be given to applications that address damage incurred to primary residences which sustained direct physical flood-related damage that threatens the safety of the home.
• The Lake Ontario recovery initiative is focused on the resiliency of the shoreline as a whole, and applications that address stand-alone shoreline damage that threatens the safety of a primary residence will be reviewed after funding decisions have been made for projects proposed through the REDI process. In some cases, these regionally significant projects may provide protections for individual homes.
To sign up for updates and be notified when the application is available, visit HCR’s website.
The National Guard has been busy in Orleans County, putting sand bags by homes in danger from the Lake Ontario flooding. This photo was taken June 2 in Carlton at the peninsula near Kuckville.
