Federal help in the local community

Though convenience was the major factor for setting up the two-month old Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) office in Hewlett, one could blink and miss it while driving down Hewlett Plaza.

The non-descript 1255 Hewlett Plaza office is comprised of disaster assistance employees and has several departments including public assistance, volunteer agency organizations and logistics so FEMA can function in the field.

Following a declaration made by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to President Barack Obama to FEMA on Sept. 13, a joint field office in Hewlett was established to deal with Hurricane Irene’s aftermath.

Peter Lembessis, a FEMA spokesman, said the office that opened on Sept. 22, will likely be gone by this time next year. “FEMA’s disaster assistance employees are deployed when a disaster hits and they set up joint field offices,” he said. “Now that the deadline has passed to register for FEMA assistance, things are winding down.”

After Hurricane Irene hit the East Coast and parts of Long Island between Aug. 25 and Sept. 5, homeowners, renters and municipalities such as village governments were able to register for FEMA assistance until Dec. 15. The most common claim was flood damage. “The registration deadline was originally the end of October,” Lembessis said. “Gov. Cuomo asked for a registration extension which was approved. Now that the deadline has passed people are out of luck if they procrastinated.”

FEMA’s two major programs include an individual and household program that helps homeowners and renters with damage from natural disasters and a public assistance program aimed at municipalities dealing with road and building damage.

In Nassau County, Lembessis said $7,673,441 in grants was approved for the 4,480 registrations prior to the Dec. 15 registration deadline. Congress set the highest grant amount for homeowners and renters to receive at $30,200.