NORWICH – Pointing to weather events that have devastated homeowners in the past, the Chenango County Planning and Economic Development Department is becoming a funnel for state emergency funding to help homeowners in the event of a natural disaster.

The planning department, with authorization from the Chenango County Board of Supervisors, is now on a list of agencies approved by New York State to administer emergency funds through the NYS Office of Community Renewal’s “Rapid Response Home Repair” program.

The Rapid Response Home Repair program allocates refurbishment grants to eligible homeowners whose primary residence sustained damage during severe weather.

It’s a welcome relief to local homeowners who face overwhelming repair costs in an area especially prone to flooding, said Chenango County Planning Department Director Shane Buter.

“Say there’s an event of flooding where a number of houses were destroyed,” explained Butler. “The Office of Community Renewal would allocate us a given amount of money depending on what they felt was realistic. We would then administer that program on behalf of the state to quickly respond.”

Counties eligible for state funding are determined by the Office of Community Renewal. Likewise, so is the dollar amount allocated and restrictions on it.

“We don’t know when that will happen because it’s disaster related,” said Butler. “They would let us know they’re going to send us an amount of dollars to administer this grant and what are the parameters.”

Eligible homeowners may qualify for up to $50,000 to fix damages caused by natural disaster events. Those funds may come in the form of a reimbursement or paid directly to contractors for work, or a combination of the two. Payouts cover the difference between the cost to repair the home and the amount flood insurance or other forms of disaster recovery payments cover.

For more info on the Rapid Response Home Repair Program, visit hcr.ny.gov.