Union County Added To FEMA Disaster List For Hurricane Ida Funds – Patch.com

UNION COUNTY, NJ — After Union County suffered millions of dollars in damage from floods during Tropical Depression Ida, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Friday that Union is among four New Jersey counties to be eligible for a second round of funding.

We just received a

@fema Major Disaster Declaration for Essex, Hudson, Mercer, & Union counties for Ida damages. Residents now have access to the federal help they need to rebuild. We’ll continue working with our federal partners to include all eligible counties & residents.
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) September 10, 2021

School For Disabled Was Damaged, And More

Among the damage, Westfeld Mayor Shelley Brindle said that a school for disabled children suffered more than $3 million in damage, and some students may have to be relocated. In fact, the day of the rainstorm, three custodians had to rush to the roof and be rescued as floodwaters rose. And the city also had to move dozens of cars. READ MORE: School For Disabled Children Suffered ‘Catastrophic’ Flood

Brindle had told residents and business owners, “As a reminder, take pictures of any and all damage you incurred and save every receipt. Please upload your damage information to this form so we can aggregate it for the state. I’ll provide FEMA and other relevant information as it becomes available.”

Some Union County communities had so much damage, their neighborhoods attracted trash pickers and scrappers, including Westfield and Clark. READ MORE: Trash Pickers, Scrappers Reported In Clark After Ida Flooding

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Patch editor Eric Kiefer contributed to this story.

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