The Governor made the announcement during a visit to Lambertville, a community that faced severe storm impacts.

According to Gov. Murphy´s official website, the declaration will allow people in the six approved counties to register in order to obtain direct assistance for Ida-related recovery, which may include home repairs, temporary housing, low-cost loans, and other programs to help recover from the effects of the tropical storm. Affected residents need to register at www.disasterassistance.gov.

After registering, applicants will receive notification letters from FEMA either by U.S. mail or by electronic correspondence explaining the next steps. Those residents who reported during the application process that they received damage and are not able to live in their primary residence; an inspector will contact them by phone to schedule an inspection.

The Governor also announced that the state has launched a data collection portal to gather data from impacted individuals outside of the six counties where FEMA has declared the Major Disaster Declaration.

FEMA and the State continue to evaluate damage in other counties and the state portal will ensure that all Ida damages across all counties in the State are evaluated for potential FEMA assistance. The state portal will record basic information including name, location, damages and cost, and need from impacted residents and businesses. It is accessible at nj.gov/ida. and damagenj-njoem.hub.arcgis.com

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The Public Damage Reports website(damagenj-njoem.hub.arcgis.com) gives the citizens of New Jersey access to self-report damages in the aftermath of significant disasters.

Helpful information

The reports help local, state, and federal authorities better understand the location and severity of damage impacts. That information also helps expedite the individual assistance process following major disasters and emergencies.

Murphy urged the residents to use the resources available at the agency website. “Many residents of our state are facing a long road ahead as they recover from Ida,” said Governor Murphy. “I am very grateful to the Biden Administration and FEMA for their swift approval of the Major Disaster Declaration for six of our counties. I urge residents and businessowners in those counties to visit FEMA’s website and begin the application process.”

You can read: How to help people affected by Ida in New Jersey?

“We also urge residents outside of the six counties to register their information at nj.gov/ida so that we can be ready to get dollars into the hands of additional New Jerseyans as soon as we are able,” he added.

Extraordinary efforts

Colonel Patrick Callahan, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police praised the agency’s efforts to facilitate the state’s recovery from the severe weather event. “I applaud the extraordinary efforts of FEMA for their continued support to the residents of New Jersey that are recovering from Tropical Storm Ida.”

“This Major Disaster Declaration and data collection portal will expedite the recovery process and aid us in our effort to become a more resilient state as we build our communities back,” the Superintendent said.

The post FEMA approved Major Disaster Declaration for N.J. counties appeared first on El Sol News Media.

The deployment was authorized by Gov. Phil Murphy and will include 50 state troopers who will leave this Saturday and return on Feb. 9.

According to the New Jersey State Police, on Wednesday, a first seven-member team will be sent to the southern coastal city of Ponce to coordinate with local authorities.

Murphy said Tuesday morning that fifty troopers will arrive on Sunday for a 15-day stay. The deployment mission will be to provide force protection at seven base camps providing temporarily housing for between 2,000 and 5,000 residents in the Ponce region of Puerto Rico.

Additionally, troopers will also be in charge of the traffic control posts from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the duration of the deployment.

The presence of these officers on Puerto Rico territory, responds to the Emergency Management Assistant Compact (EMAC), agreement which allows states and territories to share resources following natural and man-made disasters.

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Colonel Patrick Callahan of the State Police recalled their last help mission after Hurricane Maria, and the promise they made. “Before we departed from the last of our deployments to Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, we made a promise to local officials and residents that should they ever need us again, we would be there.” And he added, “Today we are making good on that promise. We are deploying a highly skilled contingent of troopers that will be able to immediately integrate into the recovery efforts already in place.”

Ponce is one of several cities in the island’s southern region hit by the recent 6.4 magnitude earthquake that caused more than an estimated $200 million in damage. More than 7,000 people remain in shelters since the quake in a country still recovering from Hurricane Maria, a Category 5 storm that struck in September 2017.

The post New Jersey State troopers to assist Puerto Rico amid earthquake crisis appeared first on El Sol News Media.