Hochul Asks Trump to Declare a Major Disaster on Long Island After September Nor'easter

Long Island's towns, villages and some nonprofits could get federal help paying for the damage from the late-September nor'easter if President Trump grants a request Gov. Kathy Hochul sent to Washington this week. She is seeking a major disaster declaration covering Nassau and Suffolk.

The governor's office announced the request on Oct. 27, a month after the storm battered the coast on Sept. 26 and 27. The decision now rests with the White House, and no timeline for an answer has been announced.

The state's tally of the damage starts on land. More than 1,150 trees came down across the two counties, along with roughly 580 large limbs, and many of them took utility poles and power lines with them. At the water's edge, some stretches of the Island lost at least four feet of sand to waves that kept striking the same beaches because the storm crawled through the region. Peak gusts topped 80 mph. With a full moon behind the tides, floodwater stood more than three feet deep in spots. Most of the region got two to four inches of rain, a few places topped six, and low streets flooded.

Hochul's office said the aid would flow largely through FEMA's Public Assistance program, which pays back qualifying public agencies and nonprofit groups rather than individual households. Towns could put it toward repairing schools, parks, bridges and roads, as well as sewage and water treatment plants and other critical sites. Cleanup costs such as clearing debris qualify too, as does emergency work done to keep people and property safe while the storm hit. FEMA says that kind of aid is generally split 75 percent federal and 25 percent state and local.

Getting to this point took weeks of paperwork. Under federal law, only a governor can ask the president for a major disaster declaration, and FEMA guidance says the request usually follows a joint damage review by federal and state teams. That step is done here: FEMA signed off on losses above the threshold New York must clear before it can ask for federal aid. No total damage estimate was made public, and the state has not named the projects it hopes to fund.

In a statement, Hochul called the storm "the latest in a series of severe weather to impact downstate" and praised the emergency crews who worked through it. "I will always fight for every resource available to help our communities recover and rebuild following a storm," she said.

Terry O'Leary, the state's emergency services commissioner, said his agency and the two counties together measured the damage, which he said "exceeded FEMA's qualifying threshold." He added that federal help "will go far in supporting Long Island as it continues to recover."

New York's two senators both pressed Trump to sign off. In Charles Schumer's view, the declaration would help the counties get repaid for "emergency measures taken to protect lives and property" and he asked Trump to move "expeditiously." Kirsten Gillibrand said Long Island had been "battered" by wind and flooding and asked Trump to "swiftly approve" the request. Two members of the House, George Latimer and Adriano Espaillat, added their support as well.

The federal request is narrower than the state emergency that came before it. Before the first gusts, Hochul signed an executive order on Sept. 25 declaring a disaster emergency in eight named counties, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and the five that make up New York City, and in the counties bordering them. Under that order, which expired Oct. 25, state agencies and the Red Cross were cleared to guard state property and assist local responders. The new request covers only the two Long Island counties.

The final word belongs to the president, who under FEMA's rules also decides whether Washington ever picks up more than its usual three-quarters share of the cleanup bill.