Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

No hazard mitigation funds for Connecticut shoreline homeowners

  • Environment
  • by Jan Ellen Spiegel
  • January 28, 2014
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

About a half-dozen shoreline communities have learned that none of their residents whose homes were damaged by Storm Sandy will be able to sell them back to the government or receive hazard-mitigation funds to elevate the structures.

The state Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security has sent out letters explaining that this decision was made because applications totaled nearly five times the amount of money available.

After a committee reviewed and ranked four categories of applications, it decided to use all the available money for infrastructure projects. “The committee felt that infrastructure would provide the greatest benefit to the most number of people given the limited funds,” division spokesman Scott DeVico said.

A total of $16.6 million was available through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for infrastructure repairs, home elevations, property buyouts and generators. This particular pot of money covered damages from storm Sandy and the February 2013 blizzard. There had been an earlier pot of money, $8.7 million, pegged to damage from Tropical Storm Irene.

There were 139 grant applications totaling $81.6 million. There were applications for 23 infrastructure projects totaling little more than $45 million; more than 90 elevation applications in seven communities totaling $18 million; and $8.6 million in buyouts was requested in five communities.

The committee ranked infrastructure No. 1, followed by buyouts, elevations and generators.

“We are not happy with that decision,” said Denise Savageau, conservation director and hazard mitigation grant coordinator in Greenwich. Greenwich had 26 homes that applied for elevations.

The town has sent a letter to the state division, which operates within the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, requesting a review of the ranking process and criteria.

“We believe the residents of Connecticut and the Municipalities who collectively spent thousand of hours and monies to compile home elevation and applications deserve an explanation as to why they were never considered,” the letter said.

That sentiment and a similar review was requested in a letter from the emergency management director in Westport, who further accused the division of misleading applicants “about the prospect of receiving aid.” [Westport letter.]

Westport had applied for 10 home elevations.

This  home in Branford's Pine Orchard neighborhood was elevated to protect against future storm damage.

Sam Stricker, the Branford Eagle

This home in Branford's Pine Orchard neighborhood was elevated to protect against future storm damage.

“No one anywhere is happy,” echoed Tom Ivers, in Milford’s Community and Economic Development office. Milford applied for 28 elevations and six buyouts.

“No one is getting any good explanation as to why infrastructure takes precedence over human suffering,” Ivers said. “There’s nothing like kicking people who are in despair. How could they not realize what they were doing.”

Homeowners who wish to elevate are eligible for low-interest loans through a shoreline resiliency fund announced by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in October. The state is also still processing home elevation applications through the Community Development Block Grant program as part of the overall Sandy allocation approved by Congress.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jan Ellen Spiegel Jan has won awards for her reporting on energy, environment and food and agriculture. In 2013 she was the recipient of a Knight Journalism Fellowship at MIT on energy and climate. She is a former editor at The Hartford Courant, where she handled national politics including coverage of the controversial 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. As a freelance reporter, her stories have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and elsewhere. She was an editor at the Gazette in Colorado Springs and spent more than 20 years as a TV and radio producer at CBS News and CNN in New York and in the Boston broadcast market. She graduated from the University of Michigan and attended Boston University’s graduate film program.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Lamont’s budget keeps transportation program afloat through 2026 with new truck fee
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Gov. Ned Lamont's new budget would keep Connecticut's transportation program solvent through 2026 with a new fee on trucks.

CT has big plans for tackling climate change. Now it has to make them happen.
by Jan Ellen Spiegel

Gov. Ned Lamont wants to expand the role of the Connecticut Green Bank to include funding for climate change projects.

New Haven lawmaker would ban exclusionary beach policies
by Keith M. Phaneuf

A New Haven lawmaker wants to stop municipalities from imposing exorbitant fees that restrict many out-of-towners from using their beaches.

A shocker in the plan to finally update residential solar rates: No complaints
by Jan Ellen Spiegel

Connecticut is on the verge of changing one of the key financial underpinnings for residential solar electric systems.

Lamont: ‘I don’t want to build Killingly’ Energy Center
by Jan Ellen Spiegel

The governor hinted at slowing permitting and being able to “play some games there.”

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Lamont’s new vaccination priorities are simple and smart
by Richard Davies

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s new age-eligibility vaccine plan is simple, smart and straightforward. The more complicated the rules are, the greater the chance of screw-ups and of well-connected people getting their shots before they should. The governor is doing a good job.

Opinion Gas pipeline will threaten water quality, wildlife and wetlands
by Susan Eastwood

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has granted tentative approval of the 401 water quality certification for the Pomfret to Killingly natural gas pipeline. I urge DEEP to deny the 401 certification, as the proposed pipeline would violate the Connecticut’s water quality standards, and the conditions in the draft certification fail to protect our streams, wetlands, and wildlife.

Opinion Connecticut and the other Connecticut. Which will endure?
by Ezra Kaprov

What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘Connecticut’? Possibly, you think of a 43-year-old Puerto Rican man who arrived here with his family following Hurricane Maria. He works full-time as a machinist at the Sikorsky plant, and he coaches a prizefighter on the side.

Opinion COVID-19 increases urgency for legislature to pass medical aid-in-dying law
by Dr. Gary Blick

The COVID-19 crisis has exposed the profound tragedy of loved ones dying alone, in a hospital or nursing home, without the care and comfort of loved ones surrounding them. This pandemic also demonstrates the fragility of life, the limits of modern medicine to relieve suffering, and has magnified the systemic racial disparities in our healthcare system, resulting in higher hospitalization and death rates for people in communities of color. We must eradicate these disparities, so everyone has equal access to the full range of end-of-life care options.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO