The City of Philadelphia experienced its fourth largest snowstorm in over 130 years of record-keeping. Money spent by City departments or non-profits may not be a total loss.

March 7, 2016

by Emily Alloy, Recovery Planning Coordinator

When Philadelphians think disaster, we are often drawn to images of Hurricane Katrina or Superstorm Sandy.

However, our city has experienced a few major disasters of our own.

Since 1954, Philadelphia has received a total of fourteen Major Disaster Declarations.

Major Disasters are declared by the President of the United States. With the declaration comes support in the form of Public Assistance.

The Public Assistance Program is governed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and in Philadelphia is spearheaded by the Office of Emergency Management (OEM).

The purpose of the program is to help recoup the City’s losses and assist with the recovery of locally impacted communities.

So, why do we bring up this topic now? The City and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are currently pursuing a declaration for January’s Winter Storm Jonas.

City agencies and eligible private non-profit organizations have gathered costs directly tied to the Winter Storm.

If Philadelphia exceeds our threshold of $5.4 million, and the State exceeds their threshold of $20 million, FEMA will request a declaration from President Obama to unlock funds and reimburse up to 75% of the costs incurred.

Pulling together as a community is one of the things our city does well.

If your City agency, or private non-profit, incurred costs directly related to the storm (labor, materials, equipment, and contractors), you may be able to help!

The disaster’s incident period ranges from Sunday January 24^th 12:01am through Tuesday 26^th 12:01am.

The deadline to submit costs is Friday, March 11^th, so act now.

If you think your City department or private non-profit incurred eligible costs, please contact our Recovery Planning Coordinator, Emily Alloy, at Emily.alloy@phila.gov or (215) 683-3264.