Hampden County communities are eligible to receive up to 75 percent reimbursement for storm expenses.
MONSON - Highway Surveyor John R. Morrell is being recognized for his role in getting federal disaster funds for Hampden County for a January 11-12 snowstorm.
Hampden County initially was excluded for disaster relief, but recently was included because snowfall amounts in the eastern part of the county were so high. Morrell was personally thanked for his efforts in a May 6 letter by Richard L. Fitzgerald, a section chief for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.
Now Hampden County communities are eligible to receive up to 75 percent reimbursement for storm expenses. Monson may receive up to $50,000.
Morrell also credited highway superintendents and officials in Palmer, Hampden, Wales and Brimfield for helping gather the information needed to prove that the county should get relief for the Jan. 11-12 snowstorm.
“It’s a team effort and we just want to be recognized by our local communities that we got the money for them. Some people are claiming they were responsible and they weren’t,” Morrell said.
Morrell estimates that Monson alone got between 26 and 30 inches of snow during that storm, which exceeded its record snowfall of 26 inches. Morrell said the larger Hampden County communities did not receive as much snow as the smaller communities like Monson. He said only one community in Hampden County needed to have 90 percent of its record snowfall total to earn funds for the entire county.
Fitzgerald wrote that Morrell contacted him shortly after the news broke that Hampden County was not included in the disaster declaration, and told Fitzgerald that he, along with other highway superintendents, had measured snowfalls greater than what was reported by the National Weather Service.
Fitzgerald asked Morrell to provide more information, and the National Weather Service recalculated snowfall amounts for along the Massachusetts-Connecticut border. The result validated Morrell’s statements, changing the snowfall amounts for Hampden County, Fitzgerald’s letter stated.
“I can honestly say that John’s assistance and leadership among his fellow highway professionals made the difference . . . it will mean a lot to all the communities within Hampden County,” Fitzgerald wrote.