WASHINGTON – Maine has been awarded nearly $2.2 million in disaster grant funding as part of the Community Development Block Grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, announced in a press release.

The funds will assist communities in Maine that are recovering from the severe storms and flooding that struck this spring. The funds were included in the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008 that Collins and Snowe both supported. Eligible communities will be able to use the funding after HUD approves a recovery plan prepared by the state of Maine.

“Spring flooding in the northern and midcoast regions of Maine caused extraordinary damage to homes, buildings, and infrastructure,” the senators said in the release. “These much-needed funds will go a long way in helping communities still recovering from these historic floods.”