County governments in New York are receiving aid to strengthen their planning and operations for responding to emergencies within their borders, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced. 

All told, a combined $7.6 million in federal funding is heading to municipalities in the state to aid with disaster response. 

The money is being sent through a federal emergency management performance grant program provided by FEMA and comes as governments around the globe are responding to a variety of disasters, including those made worse by the effects of climate change. 

County governments are often the first public entities to respond to a disaster in their capacities as public health officials, law enforcement or fire officials. 

"We are laser-focused on strengthening the state's emergency planning and response capabilities to help ensure that New York is ready if disaster strikes," Hochul said. "County emergency managers need our utmost support, and this funding will support training efforts and allow agencies to access the necessary resources to respond to any type of disaster in their community."

County officials must show their own readiness to respond to a variety of potential hazards and show federal officials areas that need national improvements such as logistics and distribution management, evacuation, financial management and resiliency. 

Funding can be used for management administration, staffing emergency management agencies, planning, equipment, training and exercise, construction and renovation of operations facilities and maintenance of communications systems.