Employees from multiple agencies of the federal government may soon be headed to Buffalo to aid in recovery efforts from the Blizzard of ‘22.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Tuesday he spoke with Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to urge the feds to launch a “whole-of-government response” to the historic snowstorm.
Schumer did not say whether Criswell made any hard commitments to send aid and workers to Western New York. But the Senate majority leader said he already has secured a level of authority from President Biden – called Direct Federal Assistance – that would allow multiple agencies, not just FEMA, to respond to the blizzard, which has claimed more than 30 lives.
“This is a once in a generation storm ravaging Buffalo and Western New York communities and we need ‘whole-of-government’ federal response and boots on the ground to give first responders and local leaders the support they need to keep people safe, restore and rebuild,” Schumer said in a news release. “That is why I personally called FEMA top brass to say that we must put the full force of the federal government into helping our communities recover from this historic storm. Western New York can’t afford to wait another moment.”
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The FEMA press office in Washington did not respond to messages seeking clarification on how many federal workers – and from which agencies – would be sent to Buffalo, or when that assistance would arrive.
Biden declared a federal emergency in Erie and Genesee counties on Monday. That designation authorized FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts “to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the counties of Erie and Genesee,” a news release from the White House stated.
A 1988 law called the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act authorized the emergency declaration, which allows other federal government agencies to coordinate with FEMA and local response efforts.
Schumer gave the example of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which already has an office in Buffalo, as an agency that could be mobilized to buttress recovery efforts underway.
“U.S. Army Corps is the government’s infrastructure experts, so FEMA can mission assign them to aid with power system restoration or transportation infrastructure recovery work,” Schumer said. “In other words, this means FEMA can bring the nation’s finest workforce and cutting-edge technology to WNY to supercharge the response and recovery effort.”
Additional federal emergency support functions listed on the FEMA website include transportation, communications, public works, firefighting, medical care, emergency assistance, temporary housing, logistics, search and rescue, and public safety.
For example, if power needs to be restored in certain areas or if the electrical infrastructure needs to be rebuilt, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Energy or the Department of Transportation could be utilized to fix those issues sooner, Schumer’s office said.
To aid search-and-rescue operations, the Department of Interior – and specifically, the National Park Service – or the Department of Defense could be activated and staffers could be sent from Washington or other regions to Buffalo.
Schumer said following a disaster and preliminary damage assessment, Gov. Kathy Hochul can also request a “major disaster” declaration from the federal government, which allows the state to seek reimbursement for response work and permanent recovery funding.
That declaration would unlock federal aid through FEMA for emergency protective efforts and debris removal that was undertaken by the state and some nonprofit groups. The declaration would also be required for individual assistance, which aids families and people “but is only available under Major Disaster declarations and in the most dire circumstances, Schumer said.
A spokesperson for Hochul said the state has 30 days to apply for a "major disaster" declaration. By law, the state and local municipalities would need to incur more than $36 million in storm damage to be considered for the declaration. If that threshold is met, the spokesperson said, Hochul may apply for the designation.
