SHARE

Hurricane Sandy Costs Mount Pleasant $250,000

VALHALLA, N.Y. – After Hurricane Sandy tore through the New York metropolitan area, Mount Pleasant must deal with what Town Supervisor Joan Maybury estimates is around $250,000 in storm-related costs.

Mount Pleasant is dealing with costs related to Hurricane Sandy, most of which the town hopes to recover from FEMA.

Mount Pleasant is dealing with costs related to Hurricane Sandy, most of which the town hopes to recover from FEMA.

Photo Credit: Robert Michelin

Maybury said she hopes that most, if not all, of the costs will be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"We're hoping to get at least 90 percent of those expenses back," Maybury said.

Maybury said the town was lucky that it suffered no major infrastructure damage. She said the only damage to town property was to minor items such as guardrails and traffic lights. Most of the $250,000 in costs was overtime for police dispatchers and Highway Department employees, who were working around the clock with increased staff in the days after the storm.

"Some of our highway workers are still working on Saturdays for some of the cleanup work that still needs to be done," Maybury said.

The town also takes on the expenses to operate its 24-hour shelter at Town Hall in Valhalla, which includes generators for the shelter and the cost of cleaning equipment. The town was able to save money by staffing the shelter with volunteers from local ambulance corps.

Maybury said the town will meet with FEMA on Friday to begin the process of having its costs reimbursed. The town went through a similar cleanup last year after Tropical Storm Irene and Snowtober hit the area, making this the third major storm in just over a year. Maybury said this one was the worst.

"I don't think those expenses were more than $250,000," Maybury said. "But, unfortunately, in my time serving here I've been a part of four major storms."

to follow Daily Voice Mount Pleasant and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE