NY storm-battered communities share planning fund
NY's storm-battered communities to share expertise, get part of fed rebuilding, planning fund
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during his storm recovery conference on Thursday, July 18, 2013, in Albany, N.Y. Cuomo held the conference to give New Yorkers the opportunity to help communities rebuild from catastrophic damage caused by major natural disasters over the past two years. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- More than 100 New York communities slammed by a hurricane, a tropical storm, a superstorm and massive flooding in the last 12 months are getting $750 million in federal aid to help rebuild and better prepare for the next bout of extreme storms.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo conducted a symposium Thursday with hundreds of local government officials and U.S. Housing and Urban Renewal Secretary Shaun Donovan to begin the "New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program."
It will include local officials as they try to find more effective ways to rebuild and improve their communities.
The gathering follows tropical storms Irene and Lee and Superstorm Sandy last year as well as extensive flooding in the Mohawk Valley this year.
The once rare storms touched nearly two-thirds of the state.
