Sussex County Won't Receive Federal Aid Post-Irene

Though thousands of Sussex County residents lost electricity and suffered damage from Hurricane Irene, the county won't receive federal aid to support state and local recovery efforts, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said.

President Barack Obama declared New Jersey a major disaster area on Wednesday afternoon. The White House said Bergen, Essex, Morris, Passaic and Somerset counties would be eligible for funding.

As of 4 p.m. Thursday, 352 Hopatcong Jersey Central Power & Light customers were still without power, according to the power company's outage map. And 8,871 customers were without electricity in Sussex County. At one point, almost 2,000 Hopatcong customers had lost power, JCP&L said.

William L. Vogel, who was named federal coordinating officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area, didn't rule out giving other counties funds, however.  Vogel said that damage surveys are continuing in other areas, and additional counties may be designated for assistance after the assessments are fully completed.

Those counties will be have access to the following, according to a FEMA press release:

Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured or underinsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

Federal funding also is available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by Hurricane Irene in the counties of Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, and Salem.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.