Local officials in Leominster are welcoming Gov. Maura Healey's appeal to FEMA that they need disaster relief following a storm last September that caused massive flooding and infrastructure damage in the city.
The storm dumped nearly a foot of rain on Leominster on the night of Sept. 11, topping a dam and causing roads to collapse into sinkholes in some places. Damage to the city's infrastructure was estimated to be about $30 million, and 1,400 homeowners also sent claims to FEMA asking for help.
While FEMA deemed last month that the repair costs fell below its threshold for help, the governor is asking the agency to reconsider.
"Six months later, they are still rebuilding," the governor wrote Monday in a letter to President Joe Biden and FEMA Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich. "The state has done all that we can to support their recovery, but the needs far outpace our available resources."
Healey's letter suggested that FEMA's assessment of the state's request was incomplete, failing to include costs at 49 of the 56 damaged sites in Leominster that were documented in the application, Healey wrote.
"Our communities must know that both their state and federal governments understand the severe challenges and stress they are facing, and that we are here to help," Healey wrote. "Their recovery is particularly daunting given the knowledge that the next severe storm could be around the corner, as we continue to see the escalating impacts of climate change."
As Leominster's grant administrator, Wendy Wiiks was disappointed by FEMA's rejection.
"There were sinkholes, underground infrastructure was damaged," she said. "It's a convoluted situation all over the city. It's not just one section. It was all over the place."
Wiiks said there were 75 sites where city infrastructure was damaged.
"The goal was just to get the declaration to see if we could fix as many of these of major sites as possible," she said. "We have damage that we haven't even found yet, that we're finding now that spring is coming."
Wiiks said Leominster spent months collecting information on the scope of the damage and hired engineers to prove the data to FEMA. But, she said, FEMA refused to consider many of the projects the city requested funding for, and it’s not clear to her why.
In addition to the $30 million in damage to city infrastructure, Wiiks said, there are 1,400 homeowners who were hoping for federal assistance.
"I can't even begin to estimate how much money it would cost homeowners," she said. "We have people with collapsed retaining walls. We have people with that have lost full apartments in their basement that either the kids were living in or their parents. ... And some people, their bills were over $100,000."
Wiiks said the city hired a consultant to work on providing additional information for the state's appeal.
"We're hoping for the best because, especially, our residents really need this help," she said. "They can't afford it to fix these homes. And my fear is that it would just stay unfixed and then you're dealing with other issues down the road."
The state's appeal also requests funding to help with damage caused by a storm-related water main break in Springfield, as well as expenses related to storm response by the state Department of Transportation.
