MONROE, CT — Sip & Scoop goes way beyond vanilla. The menu at the ice cream shop at 590 Main St. allows imaginations to run wild with flavors like Cookie Monster, Mint Choco Chip and Strawberry Cheesecake. During a visit Tuesday afternoon, Governor Ned Lamont opted for a cold drink — Strawberry Dragon Fruit.
Several public officials stopped by Sip & Scoop after a press conference announcing the opening of the U.S. Small Business Recovery Center for Fairfield County at the Monroe Police Department, which will assist businesses hurt by the massive flooding on Aug. 18.
Among the speakers was Mahfooz “Max” Ahmad, who went into a business venture with his father and manages the ice cream shop, which was among those sustaining costly damages.
He recalled how his father, a cab driver for many years, realized his dream when they opened the Sip & Scoop, which Ahmad manages. The store opened its doors on Aug. 1, nearly three weeks before the floods came.
Ahmad worked that afternoon, when heavy rain came down, a roof at the shopping center began to leak and water ran down into the basement.
“The electric power kept going on and off,” Ahmad told officials and reporters from behind the podium, set up just beyond the police station steps. “I decided to leave before it got really bad.”
SBA representatives at the recovery center will assist business owners like Ahmad with the application process for low interest loans.
“Facing that problem at the opening was a big challenge for us,” Ahmad said, “but with the help, we’re gonna order a replacement for a soft serve machine, which was damaged with the power on and off, so I’m very thankful for that. We’re open for business.”
Ahmad said his insurance company had refused to reimburse him for the damaged machine.
During the press conference, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, blasted insurance companies for their role in the crisis.
“We ought to be demanding more from our insurance companies,” he said. “They are hiding behind the fine print of no flood insurance. Well, from a moral standpoint, if not a legal one, they can and they must do better.”
Blumenthal said many homeowners and businesses were told by their banks they had no need for flood insurance to take out mortgages and their insurance companies also assured them there would be no problem.
“Now they’re saying, ‘no, we won’t give you any kind of aid,” he said, “so I feel very strongly that we ought to be together in going to those insurance companies now and supporting the homeowners and businesses.”
State Sen. Kevin Kelly, R-21st, who attended the press conference, also expressed his belief insurance companies should do more. Just as damage from a lightning strike is covered under homeowners insurance, Kelly said flooding is a natural phenomenon beyond people’s control.
Kelly noted how first responders came to people’s aid the day the floods came. Now, he said everyone must work together to provide funding and donate to food banks, while helping those affected any way they can.
“We all have to keep rowing and moving in the same direction,” he said.
A bipartisan gathering
On a sunny Tuesday afternoon, state and federal politicians, officials from state agencies, FEMA, SBA and members of the media gathered outside the Monroe police station, where the U.S. Small Business Recovery Center had recently opened. Monroe Police Chief Keith White and First Selectman Terry Rooney greeted the visitors.
“It is our great honor at the town of Monroe to allow SBA to be here to help our community and surrounding communities through this flood tragedy,” Rooney said from behind the podium. “It’s been a difficult time for our community and other communities and this is another step towards recovery.”
Lamont recalled seeing an outpouring of volunteerism as people came together to help their neighbors in the wake of the floods.
“Today, I’m really proud that the federal government is stepping up, stepping up in a big way,” the governor said. “They were here within weeks assessing the damage, making sure Connecticut almost immediately got that disaster declaration. That puts us to the front of the line.”
“And now you hear the SBA can get you a variety of loans for your small business and your home, and FEMA is stepping in as well to help you get grants, helping you get back on your feet,” Lamont said, turning to Rooney, he said, “Terry and company were doing yeoman’s work getting roads and bridges done without our help.”
In addition to Lamont, Blumenthal and Kelly, U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Connecticut, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Connecticut, and State Rep. Tony Scott, R-112th, also attended the press conference.
“I appreciate the center being here in Monroe, so close to where a lot of damage was,” Scott said. “We’re here to talk to these folks who still need help.”
“I’m here to join my colleagues in offering thanks for the remarkable leadership that we saw here in these towns that were so badly affected,” Himes said. “My own Congressional district, Monroe and particularly Oxford, were brutally hit and [first selectmen] George Temple and Terry Rooney stepped up.”
“You don’t sign up for these jobs imagining that you’re going to see the kind of imagery that we saw in the flooding,” he said, adding of Oxford’s first selectman, “George Temple certainly didn’t imagine that he would be presiding over the loss of two lives — lives that we can’t get back.”
Himes recalled holding an informational meeting with Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security and FEMA officials at Oxford Town Hall soon after the flooding to encourage residents and business owners to document their damage, so Connecticut could meet the thresholds for federal aid.
He said the SBA recovery centers in Monroe and other towns are part of an effort to get people back on their feet as soon as possible.
“These centers are open so individuals who suffered damage to their homes can qualify for $42,500 to address structural damage and/or $42,500 in aid to cover other expenses, such as the need to rent etc.,” Himes said of the maximum amounts for FEMA aid.
‘You are not alone’
Daniel H. O’Keefe, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, said his department worked with the governor to offer grants of up to $25,000 for small businesses impacted by the flooding.
He said their original estimates were that approximately 200 businesses were affected, meaning around $5 million would be needed for the program.
“I can tell you we had over 300 active applications, so our estimates, unfortunately, were too low,” O’Keefe said. “We’re going to expand the program. We are not going to turn away a business in need. But as of tomorrow, we will have paid out almost $4 million to these impacted small businesses, and we continue to do a biweekly call to get the information out to the community.”
For information on the grant program, visit the DECD website.
“I just want to continue to send the message: If you’ve been impacted by these events, you are not alone,” O’Keefe said. “We are here. We’re not going anywhere. We will continue to work with you as you seek to recover and rebuild.”
Funding sources
Brenda Bergeron, deputy commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Homeland Security, explained the financial aid available to homeowners and businesses.
In addition to the grant program O’Keefe spoke about, Bergeron said FEMA offers individual assistance in the form of financial aid for people. “That’s what the governor put in his declaration request and, in a quick amount of time, we were able to get that major disaster declaration,” she said.
This opens up money for homeowners and renters, according to Bergeron. She said Bob Fogle, a federal coordinator for FEMA, is overseeing this program.
A maximum of $42,500 can be awarded for three different areas: house repair, rental assistance, and other needs, which could be anything from replacing food that spoiled and clothing that was lost to the cost for medical supplies, according to Bergeron.
She said SBA programs are not just for businesses, adding the most common are physical property and economic injury disaster loans.
“The other piece we are waiting for is the public assistance side to get municipalities reimbursed for 75 percent of the cost of what they’re doing to recover,” Bergeron said. “We had to do a preliminary damage assessment. We go out with FEMA and the municipalities and they assess the damages to see if we hit the FEMA threshold.”
She said thresholds were reached in three counties: Litchfield, New Haven and Fairfield County. “Now the request the governor made for that public assistance program to open up is being reviewed by FEMA,” Bergeron said.
Links for all of the available programs can be found on the Ct.gov website.
More recovery centers are opening up in the state. Catherine Marx, district director for SBA in Connecticut, said three types of loans are available: business physical disaster loans, economic injury disaster loans and home disaster loans.
At the centers, she said SBA officials will guide people through the application process. For information, visit sba.gov.
Avoiding fraud
Bergeron said FEMA already dispensed over $3 million for rental and relocation assistance and home repairs, and has had over 1,000 registrations for individual assistance.
“Fourteen inspectors from FEMA are out doing inspections for folks,” she said. “They will not make inspections at your house without an appointment. It’s important to make sure the person at your house is someone you made an appointment with. They will not ask you for any money.”
Blumenthal also advised homeowners to take precautions to avoid fraud.
“When someone knocks at your door and they say, ‘we’re from the federal government. We’re here to help you,’ ask for their FEMA badge,” he said. “If somebody calls you on the phone and says, ‘I’m from the SBA,’ ask to call them back at an authorized number.”
“I know from my days as attorney general, the opportunity for scams is out there,” he said. “It’s common. There were reports of some of these scams. Protect yourself. Do not give out information. Today, data information is the coin of the realm. Everybody wants it. They’ll stop at nothing to get it from you.”
‘Build back better’
DeLauro said the flash floods in August and an increasingly volatile weather pattern emphasize the need to “build infrastructure resilient to floods and other disruptive climate change driven events.”
“We need to continue to improve our natural disaster responses and individual assistance mechanisms,” she added.
Blumenthal shared those sentiments.
“We’re building back, but we need to build back better,” he said. “We can’t just go back to the old normal, because we face the new normal in climate change. We have to build back resilient. We have to build back better and that goes for municipalities with roads, bridges, culverts, and for homes that are built near water.”
‘This is America’
“Today is about America,” Blumenthal said. “What you see here, all of us coming together regardless of party, regardless of geographic location, this is America, aiding people when they need help — and we’re all here coming together in the community, doing it for the people of Monroe, Southbury, Oxford, Seymour, Middlebury, Danbury — all of them suffering this kind of devastation.”
Later that day, Ahmad’s wife, Tuba Munir, sat at a table in Sip & Scoop with their daughter, Ayesha Anaya, who will turn two later this month. Governor Lamont introduced himself and engaged her in friendly banter.
State Sen. Kevin Kelly, Daniel O’Keefe and Catherine Marx also stopped by for ice cream.
“It was very good. They were very supportive,” Munir, who emigrated here from Pakistan and now lives in Monroe, said of the public and elected officials. “I really admire them helping people and their businesses. It’s very good they are helping people. In Pakistan they would never do that.”
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