President Declares Jan. 11-12 Record Snowstorm a Major Disaster

President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster in most of Connecticut’s counties after the record-breaking storms dumped several inches of snow across the state on Jan. 11 to 12,  according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The total accumulation from the back-to-back storms in Avon was 17 inches.

Fairfield, Hartford, Litchfield, New London, and Tolland counties are elegible for assistance for a continuous 48-hour period. Assistance will be provided for a period of 72 hours for New Haven County, according to FEMA.

The president's declaration did not include Middlesex and Windham counties. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Friday that he has told the state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security to prepare an appeal on behalf of these two counties.

 “The major disaster declaration that President Obama declared will help our cities and towns with the gaping holes in their budgets left by a brutal, relentless winter,” Malloy said in a press release. “I’d like to thank President Obama and FEMA for their quick action in this regard. However, Middlesex and Windham Counties were not spared this winter, and I’m already moving forward with an appeal to this ruling on behalf of those counties.”

In eligible counties, the federal aid is available "to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the snowstorm," according to FEMA.

The state government had previously reached out to all towns to ask what the cost of the January storm was, according to Steve Bartha, assistant to the town manager. The storms cost Avon $50,000, and the town of Avon forwarded that information to Malloy.

“We were substantially through the budget with all of the storms," Bartha said. "We need some of that money. . . We're farther through the budget than we typically are [for snow removal], and we're counting on Mother Nature to keep it easy on us."

Most of the expenses were for overtime pay, which Bartha said could also be the case with responding to water damage incidents in the spring when the snow melts.

He said on Feb. 23 that Federal Emergency Management Agency could refund municipalities up to 75 percent of the disaster cleanup cost for that storm.

The president’s decision follows a Feb. 22 request from Malloy to Obama, asking the president to declare a federal disaster for the January storm.