“No red tape:” Schumer wants no hiccups for cities, communities seeking federal funds in wake of destructive weather pattern

U.S. Senator and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) said he doesn’t want to hear of any red tape issues for cities and communities aiming to seek out federal funding in the wake of a devastating weather pattern this month, which resulted in a tornado in Rome, NY and flash flooding in Lewis County.

“What we’re seeing more and more across the country is increasing extreme weather that we need to be prepared for,” Schumer said while highlighting his push for $30 million in federal funding to further upgrade the nation’s network of weather monitoring systems, known as mesonets.

In fact, New York has at-least one of these systems in every single county, according to Schumer.

“Without federal resources, small communities like ours would struggle to recover from flash flooding events like these,” said Lewis County Board of Legislators Chairman Larry Dolhof.

“But with damages already expected to cost tens of millions of dollars and growing every day, Rome’s resilience and unity will only get us so far, and we need the support of our state and federal partners as soon as possible,” said Rome City Mayor Jeffery Lanigan.

The EF-2 tornado on July 16 damaged 370-plus homes and dozens of businesses throughout Rome.

The week before, a torrential rain blitz flooded out the village of Lowville, NY and several Lewis County roads and bridges.

Public damage estimates in Lewis County have been calculated upwards of $50 million, according to previous reports from officials.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer image.