Greene County residents affected by storm should contact own insurance company, says emergency director

August 1, 2008 - 2:19 PM

Greene County residents who were affected by the July 27th thunderstorm probably won't get help from the federal government, considering the damage wasn't widespread enough for the area to be declared a disaster zone, the County director of emergency services said Friday.

While there was "a tremendous amount of damages sustained from falling and uprooted trees," the storm struck only a very small portion of the county, said John Farrell.

"The State Emergency Management Office has recently advised that the likelihood of this storm becoming declared a disaster by FEMA is not very high," Farrell said in a statement.

Residents are urged to contact their insurance companies for assistance and reimbursement for damages, or contact the New York State Insurance Department at 800-342-3736.

In the meantime, Greene County Emergency Services is continuing to distribute and accept preliminary damage assessment forms.