Jeffery Berube has not lost track of the number of times he’s come to dump debris at the East Hartford transfer station.
“Sixty-eight from two properties,” Berube said.
But the toll of Tropical Storm Isaias seems to keep filling the back of his pickup.
“I’ll do my part and every resident in East Hartford doing their part and they’ll get it done,” Berube said.
The Town of East Hartford is now extending its drop off hours for debris at the transfer station in hopes of consolidating everything that the storm brought down.
East Hartford Mayor Marcia LeClerc estimates the storm will cost the town $1 million for clean-up.
At a special meeting Wednesday night, the town council voted to appropriate $250,000 to cover the cost for curbside debris cleanup and disposal.
The town of West Hartford said it estimates its storm debris pickup program that started Monday will cost between $750,000 to $900,000.
As part of the state’s initial damage assessment, the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security says towns and cities have until August 19 to provide to them their damage and costs associated with the storm to determine if FEMA state and county thresholds are close to being met.
If it is determined that those thresholds are within reach, the state will ask FEMA to conduct an official damage assessment and if the thresholds are met, the state would move forward with a disaster declaration request.
If approved by the president, towns and cities could eventually see a 75% reimbursement for eligible costs.
