Sen. Schumer Urges NY Legislature to Pass Two Bills to Better Prevent and Fight Floods, Biden Promises Federal Funding

By Yehudit Garmaise

     Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY-D), this morning, called on New York legislators to pass two bills that he said would help New York to fight the global warming that he, Gov. Kathy Hochul, and Mayor Bill de Blasio, and President Joe Biden all blamed for the flood last night.

     The two bills: one on infrastructure and one on budget reconciliation, Sen. Schumer said, will solve not only the infrastructure problems that caused flooding, but legislation that, he said, will addresses the causes the hurricanes and thunderstorms of the last week. 

     “When you get two record rainfalls in a week, it's not just coincidence,” said Sen. Schumer, under stunningly blue and sunny skies. “When you get all the changes that we have seen in weather, that's not a coincidence.

     “Global warming is upon us, and it's going to get worse and worse, unless we do something about it.”

     What Sen. Schumer intends to do is to pass two bills that will provide funds to do two things.

     First, Sen. Schumer’s infrastructure bill proposes to build “infrastructure resiliency, so when these when these floods or fires or anything else occurs, [our infrastructure is] much more resistant.

     “You saw some results of [building up infrastructure on the coastlines] from the Sandy money, but we need much more of it, and these bills do that,” Sen. Schumer said.

     The budget reconciliation bill, Sen. Schumer said, confronts climate change “by reducing the amount of carbon New York “puts in the atmosphere by 50% by 2030.

     “Woe is us, if we don't recognize these changes are due to climate change. Woe is us if we don't do something about it quickly, both in building resilient infrastructure and in providing clean power: whether it's in homes, in electricity, and in transportation: to stop the global warming.

    “Or at least to reduce its awful effects on this country.”

     While the New York state legislature is working to prevent negative effects of future natural catastrophes, President Joe Biden called Gov. Hochul this morning to “offer any financial assistance the state of New York needs,” she reported.

     “I told him we'll take him up on that,” said Gov. Hochul, who explained that to secure that funding, the state “will be doing on-the-ground assessments of the damage with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) teams, our local partners, and making sure we get a true accounting of the [financial] losses."

     In fact, US Rep. Nicole Congresswomen Malliotakis is asking New Yorkers who suffered water damage last night to take photos of their damages and send to her, as she is also working with FEMA to get approval for federal funding may cover up to $33,000 for home repairs.

     Readers can determine whether they are eligible and apply for FEMA reimbursement by calling FEMA at (800) 621-3362 and by going to DisasterAssistance.gov. 

      Homeowners also can apply for disaster loans from the NYC Small Business Administation.

     “President Biden guaranteed that he will approve any emergency declarations we need, so we can get the money flowing to New York, to our municipalities, to our cities, to our citizens, the businesses affected, and certainly to the homeowners who have experienced flooding,” said Gov. Hochul, who added that she has directed the Department of Financial services to immediately contact insurance providers, “to send people to show up in these neighborhoods.”

     “That way, [New Yorkers] can get their claims adjusted and start filing to get reimbursed for the [flood] damages.”

     "Don't hide behind the fine print and technicality," President Biden said to insurance companies after Hurricane Ida, which killed 43 people in four states. "Do your job.

     "Keep your commitments to your communities that you insure. Do the right thing, and pay your policyholders what you owe them."