Governor David Paterson has directed the New York State Department of Insurance to activate their disaster hotline to assist property owners that have questions related to their insurance coverage. The number is 1-800-339-1759 and is open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Residents without electric power should make sure they notify Con Edison
directly by calling 1-800-75-CONED; those with access to power may make a report via the company’s Web site: www.coned.com. (People should not assume that the utility knows of their outage.)
For non-emergency matters, residents can call United Way’s 2-1-1 line for help. This helpline will have information about dry ice locations, road closures and any warming centers that may have been set up by local communities. Hours of operations are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week. If you have trouble accessing 2-1-1, you may call 1-800-899-1479.
If Westchester is declared a disaster area by President Obama, it could bring grants and low-interest loans to businesses and residents. This last happened for Westchester in 2007, when torrential rains flooded parts of the county.
To obtain federal assistance for municipal infrastructure damage, the threshold is $2.9 million in losses. The state as a whole must document $25 million in losses. The information is forwarded by the state to FEMA and then to the president.