Biden approves disaster funds for NJ, NY after Ida flooding

President Biden on Monday approved disaster funds for New Jersey and New York after the states were hammered with flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida.

The declarations make federal aid available to 11 counties between the two states that were severly impacted by last week’s flooding.

Biden approved a disaster declaration for New York on Sunday, making federal funds available to the counties of Bronx, Kings, Queens, Richmond and Westchester, the White House announced on Monday.

The White House separately announced Sunday that Biden approved a disaster declaration to help the New Jersey counties of Bergen, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Passaic and Somerset.

At least 50 people were killed across six states in the East as the remnants of Ida caused record rainfall and flooding, according to The Associated Press. At least 27 people in New Jersey were killed, and 13 in New York City.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) office said in a statement Sunday that the storm caused over $50 million in damage to public infrastructure and property, and that 1,200 homes suffered damage.

Jersey City Mayor Sten Fulop said on Twitter that the city’s preliminary estimate for damage to the city’s infrastructure was $35 million. This does not include personal damage to homes and businesses.

Our preliminary estimate for damage to #JerseyCity infrastructure from Ida is $35M. This is just the estimate for damage to city infrastructure + not including millions in personal damage to homes/businesses. We’ll continue to push for the federal help JC should be included on

— Steven Fulop (@StevenFulop) September 6, 2021

Biden spoke with Hochul and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) on Thursday. The president will visit the two states on Tuesday to survey the damage from Ida.

The president visited Louisiana on Friday to tour the devastation from Ida, where the death toll from the storm was at least 12.