New York State can collect only $5 million in emergency federal aid for the blackout in August, not the more than $58 million it had requested, the government told the state on Friday.
In a letter to the state, Daniel A. Craig, director of the Recovery Division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said that for payments to rise to more than $5 million, "there must continue to be an immediate risk to lives, property, public health or safety, and the situation must immediately require continued emergency assistance."
Gov. George E. Pataki announced on Aug. 15, the day after the blackout, that he would seek aid, but Mr. Craig's letter said that the blackout was over before the request was made, so those conditions were not met.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/08/nyregion/08BLAC.html