N.Y. to Provide Money for Flood Mitigation

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced that New York State, through the State Emergency Management Office (SEMO), will provide $650,000 to local governments for flood mitigation projects with strong educational and training components that address watershed management. The announcement was made by Michael Balboni, the administration’s Deputy Secretary for Public Safety, at the 2008 Flood Summit which convened today in Binghamton. The Summit was proposed by Gov. Spitzer to provide a forum for discussing a variety of issues associated with flooding, such as watershed management, state and local response activities and ways government can better protect our residents and property. Over the last four years, New York has been struck by nine floods so serious that they were all declared major federal disasters. The cost of these events was staggering, with nearly $500 million spent for emergency response and repairs to the public infrastructure alone.