1600 Hours, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009: Sussex County does not qualify for federal emergency assistance for individual property owners still recovering from last month’s major coastal storm, according to results of a damage assessment survey announced today.

County officials learned from the Federal Emergency Management Agency late last week that while the County exceeded its threshold for damage to individual private properties, not enough damage occurred statewide to warrant a disaster declaration. Such a declaration would have allowed federal dollars, such as low-interest loans, to flow into Delaware to help homeowners and business owners pay for repairs following the nor’easter storm that hit between Nov. 12 and Nov. 15.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed that the federal government will not be able to lend any assistance to our residents and property owners who are now left with the tall task of cleaning up from the recent storm,” Sussex County Emergency Operations Center Director Joseph L. Thomas said. “However, if there is a silver lining in the clouds it’s that Sussex County and the state did not suffer, on average, as much serious damage as we could have.”

Mr. Thomas thanked the public for its response to officials’ request that they report damage in the days after the storm. That information was extremely useful in gauging what areas were hardest hit and what kind of damage was sustained.

With the decision, Sussex County will no longer collect information from the public regarding storm damage. Property owners and residents should contact their individual insurance providers to report storm damage and file claims, Mr. Thomas said.

The Sussex County EOC will continue to accept photographs of flooding or other storm damage, however, to keep a record of the last month’s weather events. Visit sussexcountyde.gov to upload storm images.

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Media calls should be directed to Sussex County EOC spokeswoman Debra Jones at (302) 855-7801 or Sussex County Chief of Public Information Chip Guy at (302) 854-5000.