The long-planned project to re-engineer the East Chop bluff got a major boost with an announcement by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that it has awarded $10 million to the town.
Discouraged by a stalled quest for federal funding, the town of Oak Bluffs is now looking for other ways to dredge the sand-filled channel beneath the Little Bridge at Sengekontacket Pond. The inlet has now closed and the window to dredge it is also closing, with April the deadline for work to be done.
Oak Bluffs is one step closer to receiving disaster aid to dredge a channel to Sengekontacket Pond, following informal approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
A recent engineering study of the East Chop bluff has revealed further deterioration of the region, which was severely damaged by erosion and major storm events in recent years.
New FEMA maps mean many home and business owners in the commonwealth must either pay millions of dollars for renovations or shell out for flood insurance premiums that reach beyond $30,000 a year.
Nearly a year after Hurricane Sandy battered beaches, bluffs and docks from Aquinnah to Oak Bluffs, some towns are still waiting for federal funding for repairs.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has released updated preliminary floodplain maps that predict increased flooding in coastal areas during northeasters, gales and other strong storms. The maps are the first significant update since the mapping program began in the 1980s and are expected to directly affect federal flood insurance premiums for towns and counties, as well as mortgage programs for some homeowners.
The Edgartown fire department has received a grant of more than $475,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The money will go toward upgrading the current cardiac monitoring equipment for all of the Island emergency medical services. The ambulances will now be supplied with advanced cardiac defibrillator monitors, he said, which will assist in transmitting patients who are having active heart attacks.
During a sunny-day tour of two areas on the Vineyard that have been hit hard by coastal erosion in the past year, Cong. William Keating encouraged a small group of public officials Thursday to press for federal funds for repairs — although he had no sunny promises about the outcome.
