Newtown will be applying for relief from costs related to Tropical Storm Isaias now that all counties in Connecticut have been approved under a federal disaster declaration announced January 13 by Governor Ned Lamont.

Rob Sibley, who is coordinating Newtown’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster declaration application, plans to apply for enough relief to offset funds that were spent on debris removal. He told The Newtown Bee that the federal declaration excludes individual public assistance, and that he is currently compiling the figures from various town departments to complete the FEMA application.

Lamont announced that he received notification of approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency following the request he made to President Donald Trump in September 2020 for a federal major disaster declaration.

The declaration includes the approval of public assistance for the entire state, giving state agencies, municipalities, and the two tribal nations the ability to receive federal reimbursement for 75 percent of all eligible costs associated with repairing public infrastructure damaged by the storm.

The federal Hazard Mitigation Grant Program has also been approved statewide, which helps state agencies, municipalities, and the two tribal nations with the financial costs associated with implementing actions that can reduce or eliminate long-term risk to life and property from other natural disasters.

The damaging winds and rain from Tropical Storm Isaias, which impacted the state in August 2020, resulted in more than 750,000 power outages statewide, some lasting for up to a week, as well as hundreds of blocked roads and damage to infrastructure, including hundreds of broken poles and damaged transformers.

At least two reported fatalities and five serious injuries in the state are attributed to the storm.