President Joe Biden approves disaster statements ahead of visits to New York City, New Jersey

NEW YORK (WABC) – President Joe Biden has approved disaster declarations for New Jersey and New York following the devastation by the remnants of Hurricane Ida and ahead of the president’s planned visits to both states on Tuesday .

In New York, the president’s approval makes the affected people in the Bronx, Kings, Queens, Richmond and Westchester counties available to federal funds.

In New Jersey, Biden’s action makes funds available to residents in Bergen, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Passaic and Somerset counties.

Assistance may include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover losses on unsecured property, and other programs to help individuals and employers recover from the effects of the disaster.

To request federal assistance, visit https://www.disasterassistance.gov/ or call 1-800-621-FEMA.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted about his thanks to the president via Twitter as he toured games devastated by the Hunterdon County storm.

“We have just received a declaration of major disasters in Bergen, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Passaic and Somerset counties. We will now have access to essential federal support to help the new Jereyans recover from Tropical Storm Ida. Thank you for the quick @POTUS reply. “

Biden will arrive in New Jersey at 11:50 a.m. and tour Manville, where fires broke out in homes and businesses flooded Friday, many of which were inaccessible to firefighters due to the Ida floods.

Decades of people’s possessions and memories now pile up sunken mud along the banks of Manville and Hillsborough, what remains after the rivers grow, turning dry land into lakes for days.

Bill Stack built his house in 1978, and he and his wife had spent hours moving objects to the basement to a higher level during the height of the flood.

His son had planned a Labor Day barbecue, but instead, those guests headed to the pile house to help lift heavy ones.

Still, everyone is grateful to be alive.

The Manville Youth Athletic League clubhouse was also destroyed, with volunteers leaving their own floods that razed the houses to clean and save them.

Some high street businesses lost almost everything.

Biden will leave Manville at 3:10 pm before visiting a Queens site before returning to Washington at 6:05 pm

She previously toured parts of Louisiana, where Ida landed on August 29th.

The storm caused devastating and deadly flooding in the Tri-State area of ​​New York City as the massive system advanced inland during the week.

The historic flood caused the lives of 13 people in New York City, many of whom lived in illegally converted basement apartments in Queens.

As a result, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a more drastic working group and storm response plan to prevent these catastrophes in the future.

Meanwhile, in New Jersey, the Ida floods claimed the lives of at least 27 people, with four people missing across the state, and the death toll is likely to rise.

Five other people died in Westchester and one in Connecticut.

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