CRANSTON, R.I. -- Gov. Chafee late Tuesday said Rhode Island has received its first $3 million in federal aid in the wake of hurricane Sandy.
He said Rhode Island has been awarded an "initial allotment" of $3 million to do repair work on storm-damaged roads in South County, including Block Island's Corn Neck Road, Poppasquash Road in Bristol, and roads in Newport and Narragansett.
The money comes "100 percent" from federal dollars and does not require a state match, he said.
Confirmation of the money came in a telephone call with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, Chafee said. It will go towards seawall repair and roadway fixes on "federally-eligible" roads.
Meanwhile, Chafee said state officials are still determining how much it will cost to repair damage brought by the storm statewide.
FEMA officials are in Rhode Island working with local officials to develop the damage assessment reports required to qualify for federal disaster aid.
Those reports could be ready for submission to federal authorities as soon as Thursday.
But state officials Tuesday said they were confident -- based on their daylong tour of hard-hit areas in South County Tuesday -- that the state would meet the federal threshold to qualify for a "major disaster" designation.
"We're going to try to recoup every penny we can," Chafee said later. "Maybe I'm overusing the word 'hustle,' but that's been our buzzword."
@lincolnchafee: #RI has been awarded an initial $3million from federal highway to repair south county roads damaged in #sandyri.
— Philip Marcelo (@philmarcelo) October 30, 2012
RIEMA briefing on the latest recovery and power restoration efforts #SandyRI twitter.com/LincolnChafee/...
— Governor Chafee (@LincolnChafee) October 30, 2012
@lincolnchafee pt2: that incl roads in Narraganset, Newport and Bristol that sustained sea wall and roadway damage #sandyri.
— Philip Marcelo (@philmarcelo) October 30, 2012
@lincolnchafee pt3: Confirmation of #RI's first official pot of federal disaster relief came in call fr trans sec ray, gov says #sandyri
— Philip Marcelo (@philmarcelo) October 30, 2012
This post was originally published at 7:10 p.m. and updated at 7:20 p.m.