In the wake of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, cultural organizations throughout New York State experienced damage due to extensive flooding. With support from the National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman’s Emergency Fund, the New York Council for the Humanities has awarded 27 grants totaling over $26,000 to help affected groups. These grants are to be utilized by organizations to defray salary costs for staff members’ work associated with storm clean-up and recovery. A full list of grantees is available online.

While many of the grant recipients took preventive measures, the flooding still damaged the interior and exterior of buildings, as well as papers, books, furniture and technology. The basements and first floors of many buildings filled with water, mud and debris. Staff and volunteers have spent countless hours on clean up and remediation. The Council’s Hurricane Recovery Grants have helped organizations cover some of these additional staff hours, which average 77 hours per site.

For organizations still seeking support, the Council has extended the deadline for these grants until December 31, 2011 to ensure that these resources are made available to as many affected program partners as possible. Information and grant guidelines can be found online.

Photo: Material discarded from the basement at the Tioga County Council on the Arts.