Woodbury working with FEMA to repair damage from July floods

In the months following last July’s flooding rains that resulted in damage to local infrastructure and some homes, town of Woodbury officials have been in constant contact with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to secure funding to make needed repairs around town.

“No idea when an agreement will be made by FEMA as this is still a work in progress,” Woodbury Supervisor Kathryn Luciani said via email to The Photo News. “The town has been meeting with FEMA since August of 2023 and once the town entered dialogue with FEMA we have mostly met weekly since October 2023.”

Luciani said there are homes on Dunderberg Road and Oakland Avenue in Central Valley that sustained damage, as well as homes in Valley Forge.

Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus is encouraging residents with home damage to contact the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for assistance, after FEMA’s second individual assistance denial for dozens of Orange County residents whose homes were damaged.

“I am now calling upon the SBA to provide low-interest SBA federal disaster loans to all victims of this disaster,” Neuhaus said in a recent press release. “The SBA’s disaster loan program may be the last chance to aid the residents and small businesses that are still trying to rebuild their homes and businesses.”

To date, according to Luciani, Woodbury has requested $9,200 for repairs to the police station and $355,000 for the John P. Burke Memorial Pool culvert. That $355,000 does not cover costs associated with mitigation, which is still to be determined.

Additionally, the dam at the Rez, located in Highland Mills, sustained damage and the town is in the initial stages of that project.

Luciani stressed that the town’s work with FEMA remains a work in progress and that the total amount of funding needed has not yet been determined. When it is, she said, FEMA is expected to cover approximately 75% of the total costs with Woodbury funding the remaining 25%.