ALBANY (AP) -- Nine upstate New York counties that were hit hard by a damaging ice storm in December have qualified for federal disaster aid.
Gov. David Paterson announced Saturday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has agreed to provide 75 percent reimbursement to the counties for the costs they incurred because of the storm, which knocked down trees and power lines and cut electricity to hundreds of thousands of people for days.
The counties that qualified for the aid are: Albany, Columbia, Delaware, Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie and Washington. State officials estimate the costs for storm-related emergency services and debris removal in those counties was more than $25 million.
The state had applied for aid to 16 counties.
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