Last summer Tropical Storm Fred ravaged the Southern Tier. It brought heavy, flooding rain to several counties.
Steuben County was hardest hit.
The Jasper-Troupsburg High School had nearly four feet of water, mud and debris inside it as result of the historic flooding. The school was shut down, and students had to be relocated to neighboring schools and districts.
It was a challenge for the entire community.
Now though, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that more than $5.6 million has been awarded by FEMA to the district for emergency protective measures.
The funding is provided at a 90% federal cost share, and ensures that the district will be reimburse for costs from emergency cleanup and restoration measures.
“Tropical Storm Fred ravaged Steuben County Last August, causing millions in damages to the region’s homes, businesses, and schools,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Ever since the tremendous impact of the storm became clear, I have been fighting to get federal relief to the county,” she said, “and now, I’m proud to be delivering over $5 million to the Jasper-Torupsburg Central School District. I’ll keep fighting to make sure Steuben County makes a full recovery,” she said.
Jasper-Troupsburg Superintendent LeeAnne Jordan said cleanup was mostly finished in 2021. However, the next steps were set to take place after the FEMA decision.
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“I would say that we are going to probably be in this Greenwood building for a couple years,” Jordan said. “It just depends,” she said, “some things in the process have gone very quickly and other things have taken more time,” she said.
Taxpayers in the Jordan-Troupsburg district will not be impacted financially by the rebuild that takes places.
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