Saturday, November 12 BOSTON - The Bush administration has approved an application for federal disaster aid for Massachusetts, allowing the Berkshires and three other Western Massachusetts counties to receive aid for the mid-October floods.

An unspecified amount was authorized Thursday for cities and towns in Western Massachusetts that sustained damage to roads, bridges and dams as a result of the floods, which displaced more than 100 families and caused millions of dollars in damage.

Peter Judge, spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said communities that sustained infrastructure damage will be eligible to receive a federal reimbursement of 75 percent of the cost. They also will be eligible to receive a 75 percent reimbursement for any overtime costs they paid to employees to help deal with the rainstorms.

Judge said that there is "no limit" to the amount of money that will be made available to Massachusetts. Gov. Mitt Romney's application for federal aid demonstrated that there was at least $6.5 million worth of damage to public utilities - the minimum amount necessary to qualify - but the total damage in Western Massachusetts was probably less than $10 million, Judge said.

"Obviously, there wasn't the kind of damage here that you saw in New Hampshire, with houses being swept away. We saw a lot of basements flooded," he said.

City and town officials will have to back up any claims for assistance with detailed documentation, he said. "We're talking time cards and everything else. It's not dissimilar to the process we've gone through with snow emergencies."

Individuals and businesses that sustained losses in the flooding can apply for grants for temporary housing and home repairs and for low-cost loans to cover property losses that were not covered by insurance.

"I have full confidence that cities and towns will be recompensed," Speranzo said. "What remains to be seen is how much money will be available to families who had to outlay money for personal property damage."

State lawmakers have been debating whether to spend some of the remaining funds left in a $25 million spending bill authorized to shelter victims of Hurricane Katrina on Cape Cod. Romney has said that the remaining funds, estimated at about $20 million, should be put back into the General Fund, while some lawmakers have suggested using it to provide affordable housing for homeless people.

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