OXFORD, Conn. — It’s been nearly a week since historic flooding washed away homes, damaged roads and uprooted communities in southwestern Connecticut.
As people are trying to figure out where to go from here, U.S. Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) met with those in Oxford Friday to help with the next steps.
“What we're going to talk about today is how we recover,” Himes said at the start of the town hall meeting.
One of Friday’s attendees — Molly King-Smith — lives just off Route 67.
“We were completely surrounded by water, our basement was full,” she recalled. “I lost all the systems that run your house; furnace, hot water heater, my whole electrical panel, all of it.”
King-Smith says her damage isn’t nearly as bad as others, but she still needs help.
“We got luckier than some,” she continued. “Our living spaces are spared, thank goodness, but just want to be able to get the relief, you know, to figure out how to get through it.”
Since the weekend’s devastating flooding, the state and federal government have taken steps to get assistance to those who need it.
Monday, Gov. Ned Lamont declared a state of emergency — then Tuesday, he asked for a federal emergency declaration. That was granted Wednesday, allowing federal agencies to start coordinating disaster relief.
Now state officials are asking residents to document their damage and submit that information to the Connecticut Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
“Take photographs of damage, not after it's been repaired, but before it's been repaired,” Himes said. “Take photographs, document, make written notations of what was done. If you have a cost estimate, do that; address, all that stuff, document that stuff, and then submit it with the assistance of your town on the on the Connecticut website.”
The state needs this documentation to get a major disaster declaration from the federal government.
“The federal delegation, including myself, has been lobbying the White House for this declaration, but what we really need now is those damage estimates to be reported,” added Himes.
RELATED: Miles from her collapsed home in Oxford, flood victim's sonograms of son found on Westport beach
In the meantime, King-Smith and her neighbors will keep taking photos, making necessary repairs and hoping federal money will come.
“Everybody wants to show up and support their community, but have a little bit of empathy and understanding that we got to pull this money out of, you know, the air,” she said.
Himes says it could take a few weeks to get the major disaster declaration from the federal government, so the sooner people submit their damage assessments, the better.
If you were impacted by the flooding, you can submit your evidence to the state here.
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Emma Wulfhorst is a political reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at ewulfhorst@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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