State asks FEMA to assess damage from May 15 storm

The state has formally asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to do a damage assessment in Fairfield, Litchfield and New Haven counties from the May 15 tornadoes and storm macroburst.

The state’s Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security will coordinate the damage assessment with FEMA and the affected towns, cities, and state agencies.

Once the statewide assessment — a key step in getting federal funding for storm damage and cleanup — is completed, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will send the application for aid to FEMA and ultimately to President Donald Trump for approval.

Preliminary damage reports from municipalities across the state are already under review by the DEMHS. The division has not released an overall state estimate while it determines eligibility of the cost reports for federal aid.

The May 15 storm touched off two tornadoes on the New York side of the border and four on the Connecticut side. The storm has also been blamed for three deaths in New York and Connecticut.

The first tornado, with winds exceeding 100 miles an hour, touched down in Southbury and traveled more than four miles into Oxford before dissipating.

Another tornado touched down in Beacon Falls and traveled nearly 10 miles before breaking up over Hamden where dozens of homes were destroyed. Sleeping Giant State Park had so much damage it remains closed.

Another tornado struck in Winsted, causing damage over about eight city blocks, while a tornado spotted over the Barkhamsted Reservoir apparently didn’t make landfall.

Thousands of people were without power, some for up to a week.

Towns hit hard by the storm include Oxford, Beacon Falls, Seymour and Bethany. A week after the storms hit, Oxford First Selectman George Temple was on the phone with FEMA officials and had already asked the state to declare his town a disaster area.

“This is the worst natural disaster this town has ever seen,” he said during a tour a week after the storms swept through. “I’m guessing we’ve got $30 (million) to $40 million of property damage. That’s an expensive 15 minutes.”

Fifteen minutes is all the storms needed to cut a swath through his town of 33 square miles and its 144 miles of road, leaving thousands without power, schools closed for days and at least 20 20 houses destroyed by falling trees.