Over the last couple of weeks, Mendham Township officials have been working with the State and County Offices of Emergency Management (OEM), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection to assess the damage caused by Tropical Storm Ida. Last Friday, Morris County officially met the threshold for a FEMA major disaster declaration<https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4614>14>. Over 400 FEMA employees are currently here in our state along with 16 disaster survivor assistance teams, who are helping to register residents and process applications. As of earlier this week, the assistance teams visited over 1,800 families across NJ. To better serve each county, FEMA will be standing-up disaster recovery centers (DRCs) across the state to connect residents to storm related resources. FEMA plans to operate Morris County’s DRC at the Morris Plains Community Center at 51 Jim Fear Drive, Morris Plains, from September 20th through September 23rd. The DRCs that have already been set-up have had several hundred residents come through for assistance. They've registered over 37,000 residents already - 27,000 homeowners and about 10,000 renters. On Wednesday, September 22nd from 9:00am - 5:00pm, FEMA will deploy a team to Mendham Township to meet with individual residents who have submitted a request for individual assistance and who would like to apply for assistance. FEMA representatives will be able to answer questions, assist with registration, and conduct inquiries on the status of existing applications. If you would like to meet with FEMA, please email the Mendham Township OEM for more information at mendhamtwpoem(a)gmail.com. To start your FEMA claim, go to disasterassistance.gov<https://www.disasterassistance.gov/>v/>. Additional resources can be found on the FEMA Fact Sheet<https://www.fema.gov/pdf/media/factsheets/dad_disaster_declaration… and nj.gov/ida<https://nj.gov/ida/>a/>. Have a great Sunday, and take care. Sarah Neibart Mayor, Mendham Township