Quick Answer
This week's nor'easter brought coastal flooding from Virginia to Massachusetts, and both New Jersey and New York declared states of emergency. Most immediate response work goes to contractors that hold emergency contracts, so small businesses usually get in by subcontracting now and competing for recovery work later. Hurricane Polo weakened from a Category 5 to a Category 3 hurricane before approaching Mexico's Baja California peninsula, well south of the U.S. border, though its moisture brought flash flood watches to parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Texas. Confirm your SAM registration is active and opt into the Disaster Response Registry.
Update, Sept. 28: The nor'easter has moved out to sea, and most coastal flood warnings have expired. One death has been confirmed, a New York State disaster emergency has been added alongside New Jersey's, and Hurricane Polo weakened from Category 5 to Category 3 before its Mexico landfall. The sections below show both what we reported Friday and what's changed since.
Key Takeaways
- The nor'easter brought coastal flooding from Virginia through Massachusetts, with one confirmed death and power outages that peaked around 136,000 customers across five states.
- Both New Jersey and New York declared states of emergency on Sept. 25. New York's order also suspends some state procurement rules through Oct. 25, which is worth watching if you do business there.
- Most first-wave response work is ordered through contracts awarded before the storm, which makes subcontracting the realistic early entry point.
- Federal local-business preference only applies after a Presidential emergency or major disaster declaration, and none exists yet for either storm.
- Hurricane Polo weakened from Category 5 to Category 3 as it approached Mexico, not the U.S., though its moisture brought flash flood watches to the Southwest.
- Opting into the Disaster Response Registry is a separate step from SAM registration, and contracting officers are directed to search it.
Why the First Wave of Storm Work Rarely Goes to New Vendors
If you're watching the storm coverage and wondering whether you've already missed your shot, you haven't, but the first few days probably aren't your window.
Most of the work that happens right after a storm is ordered through contracts agencies awarded long before the storm formed. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) keeps pre-awarded contracts in place through its Advanced Contracting Initiative (ACI) for debris removal, temporary roofing, emergency power, water, and ice. That lets it issue orders within days of a mission assignment. States, counties, and cities work the same way. They activate emergency contracts they competed months earlier, during quiet season.
That's why registering in the System for Award Management (SAM) after landfall usually doesn't win you response work. Federal guidance puts the average at two to three days to go active, but that's an average, not a guarantee, and SAM.gov's own registration checklist advises allowing at least ten business days for a new registration. By the time a new registration clears, primes already have crews moving.
Here's the part that actually matters for you. Those primes need help. A company working a flooded coastline needs local crews, equipment, hauling, and specialty trades fast, and it looks for subcontractors who are registered, insured, and ready to go. That's your opening.
So think of it in two phases. Subcontract during the response. Compete directly once recovery buying opens up.
What the Nor'easter Meant for Contractors From Virginia to New England
As originally reported Sept. 26: If you work anywhere along the coast from Hampton Roads up through Massachusetts, this storm was worth paying attention to. Coastal flood warnings covered Hampton Roads, Virginia (2 to 3 feet of inundation), the Delaware beaches, the New Jersey coast, Hatteras and Ocracoke on North Carolina's Outer Banks, and Long Island, New York City, southern Westchester, and coastal Connecticut. High wind warnings were in effect across coastal Massachusetts and most of Rhode Island. Forecasters expected the storm to stall off the coast through the weekend.
Update, Sept. 28: The storm has pulled away, and most of those warnings have expired. Here's what actually happened. One death was confirmed. A New York City Housing Authority worker was killed by a falling tree in Brooklyn on Sept. 26. Power outages across New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island peaked around 136,000 customers Sunday morning and had fallen significantly by Monday. Wind gusts reached 81 mph at Montauk Point, New York, one of the highest readings of the storm. Two Jersey Shore water gauges, including Atlantic City, hit their highest levels since Superstorm Sandy. Coastal flooding hit Freeport on Long Island and several Jersey Shore towns including Sea Bright, Long Branch, and Surf City.
On North Carolina's Outer Banks, the storm caused lasting infrastructure damage. NC Highway 12 remains closed between the Marc Basnight Bridge and Rodanthe after ocean overwash damaged roughly 1,000 feet of pavement. An emergency ferry has been running since Sept. 27 to move essential personnel and residents. The state's transportation department expects to reopen the road to northbound traffic only on Wednesday, Sept. 30, using a one-lane detour controlled by automated signals, with no timeline yet for southbound traffic. No repair contracts or cost estimates have been announced.
New Jersey moved from watching the storm to declaring it an emergency first. On Sept. 25, the governor declared a state of emergency for eight counties, Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Cumberland, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Salem, which activated the state's emergency operations center.
Update, Sept. 28: New York followed the same day with its own state disaster emergency, covering the Bronx, Brooklyn, Nassau, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, Suffolk, and Westchester counties, effective through Oct. 25. That order also suspends several state procurement laws for the duration, which matters directly for contractors, since it means New York agencies can buy faster and with less red tape while it's in effect. Dare County, North Carolina also declared a local emergency for Hatteras Island. No other state issued a formal declaration, though Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island all activated emergency operations centers on standby.
Because this was coastal and tidal flooding, not river flooding, the work it created has a particular shape. Here's what to watch for:
- Beach and dune repair, renourishment, and sand management along the Outer Banks, Delaware, and New Jersey
- Road, culvert, and infrastructure repair where ocean overwash has damaged coastal highways, especially NC 12
- Water extraction, drying, mold remediation, and interior repair for flooded homes, businesses, and public buildings
- Debris removal and hauling from flooded neighborhoods and waterfronts
- Engineering, damage assessment, and environmental testing for public infrastructure, particularly the physically damaged sections of NC 12
If you're in one of these categories, this is still a good time to make sure your capabilities statement actually says so, instead of describing your business as offering general "disaster services."
Where Hurricane Polo Actually Went
As originally reported Sept. 26: Hurricane Polo had swung back and forth in intensity that week and was a Category 5 storm off Mexico's Pacific coast. It wasn't forecast to hit the U.S. mainland. Forecasters expected its moisture, combined with a separate storm named Odalys, to feed a heavy rain and flash flood risk into the Southwest.
Update, Sept. 28: Polo weakened significantly before making landfall, dropping to a Category 3 hurricane with 115 mph winds as it approached Mexico's Baja California peninsula, with a second landfall expected in Sonora. There were no U.S. tropical watches or warnings at any point in Polo's track. Odalys weakened into a post-tropical system before its moisture reached the Southwest.
The real U.S. impact from Polo has been indirect. The National Weather Service issued Flood Watches across much of Arizona, all of New Mexico, and parts of Utah and West Texas as Polo's remnant moisture moved through, with forecasters warning of a heightened flash flood risk into Tuesday. In Southern California, coastal flood and high surf advisories were in effect for beaches from Los Angeles County down through Orange County, driven by a combination of Polo's swells and unusually high tides tied to the approaching El Niño season.
Hurricane landfalls in California are historically almost nonexistent, and Polo didn't change that. If you're a West Coast contractor, the more useful signal happened even earlier and got a lot less attention. On Sept. 21, California's governor declared a statewide state of emergency to prepare for El Niño, directing state agencies to stage flood-fighting supplies like sandbags and pumps, and streamlining how the state buys storm preparation work. The city of Long Beach had already ratified its own local emergency the week before, citing damage from an earlier storm named Marie along with the approaching El Niño season.
In practice, the West Coast opportunity over the next several months is tied to El Niño season, not to any single storm. Getting onto state and county vendor lists now puts you ahead of the contractors who are still waiting to see what happens next.
How Federal Disaster Contracting Opens Up After a Declaration
Here's a detail that trips up a lot of new contractors. Most federal disaster contracting rules don't actually apply yet, because they depend on a formal declaration. State-level emergencies like New Jersey's and New York's are state actions, not federal ones, and as of this writing, no Presidential emergency or major disaster declaration has been requested or issued for either storm. Federal declarations typically follow damage assessments, so they take time. After Tropical Storm Hilary hit Southern California in August 2023, the federal major disaster declaration didn't come until November, more than three months later. That gap is normal, not a sign that nothing is happening.
Update, Sept. 28: New Jersey's congressional delegation has asked state and federal officials to begin damage surveys in anticipation of a future federal declaration request. That's still a preliminary step, not a declaration itself.
Once a federal declaration is in place, three things change for small businesses.
- You get a real shot at local preference. Federal rules give preference to firms based in the declared area for emergency response contracts, where feasible and practicable. That can show up as a set-aside limited to local businesses or as an evaluation preference in your favor.
- Contracting officers start searching for you, if you've opted in. Federal rules direct contracting officers to check the Disaster Response Registry in SAM.gov when they need contractors for debris removal, supplies, reconstruction, or other relief work. Being registered in SAM isn't enough. You have to separately opt in through the Assertions section of your registration, and this is the single most missed step.
- Buying gets faster. When an agency determines a purchase supports emergency response, it can use higher spending limits to buy with less paperwork and fewer competing bids. In plain terms, that means agencies can move quickly on smaller jobs, which favors vendors who are already visible and ready to say yes.
Don't wait for a federal declaration to get your paperwork in order. Finish your Registry opt-in and clean up your SAM profile now, because contracting officers start searching the moment a declaration lands, and state-level action like New York's and New Jersey's often comes first.
Where State and Local Recovery Work Comes From
A lot of the recovery work after coastal flooding doesn't come from the federal government directly. It's bought by cities, counties, and state agencies, often with federal disaster funds reimbursing them later. Early on, in a true emergency, a local government can skip the normal bidding process and award work directly, as long as it documents why. As recovery moves forward, that shifts back to normal competitive bidding.
New York's and New Jersey's states of emergency are good examples of when this channel opens up. Once a state activates its emergency operations center, state agencies and the affected counties typically move faster on repair, cleanup, and infrastructure contracts, even without a federal declaration behind them.
Two things worth knowing here.
- These jobs aren't on SAM.gov. Local governments post their own solicitations on state, county, and city procurement portals, so getting onto local vendor lists matters just as much as your federal registration.
- A GSA Schedule gives you another door in. After a Presidential declaration, state and local governments can buy recovery products and services from GSA Schedule holders through GSA's Disaster Purchasing Program. If you hold a Schedule contract, confirm you're set up to participate.
This channel runs for months, not days. It's often where small businesses land their first real prime role, doing repairs, engineering, or restoration work directly for a city or county.
FAQ
Can I get disaster contracts if I register in SAM after the storm hits?
You can, but probably not for the immediate response work. Federal guidance puts registration at two to three days on average to become active, but SAM.gov's own checklist advises allowing at least ten business days. Early response work flows through contracts that already exist. Registering now still puts you in position for the subcontracts and recovery solicitations that follow for months.
How do I join the Disaster Response Registry?
You opt in during SAM registration or an update to it, in the Assertions section, where you indicate you want to participate and fill out the disaster response information. Registration is free, so be cautious of anyone trying to charge you just to sign up.
Do local businesses get priority for disaster contracts?
Yes, but only under specific conditions. The federal preference for local firms applies to emergency response contracts during a Presidential emergency or major disaster declaration, and only where it's feasible and practicable. State-level emergency declarations, like New Jersey's and New York's, don't trigger this federal preference on their own, though they can open up faster state and local buying.
Did Hurricane Polo hit California?
No. Polo weakened from Category 5 to Category 3 before making landfall in Mexico's Baja California peninsula, well south of the U.S. border, and no U.S. tropical watches or warnings were ever issued. Southern California did see rougher surf and some coastal flooding from Polo's swells combined with unusually high tides.
Will the federal funding deadline stop disaster work?
Not in the near term. The continuing resolution signed in September 2026 funds federal agencies through Dec. 11, 2026 and lets the federal disaster relief fund be spent at the pace needed for response and recovery during that window. Recovery work stretching past that date depends on what Congress does next.
Next Steps
Disaster contracting rewards preparation more than speed. Use this week to get ready for the phase that's actually reachable.
- Confirm your SAM registration is active and your entity information is current.
- Opt into the Disaster Response Registry in the Assertions section of your registration.
- Check that your NAICS codes match the work you actually do, whether that's debris removal, remediation, roofing, or engineering.
- Update your capabilities statement so an emergency manager or prime can see your crew size, equipment, service area, licensing, and insurance at a glance.
- Register on the state and county vendor portals where you work, such as Cal eProcure in California or NJSTART in New Jersey.
- Reach out to primes and existing emergency contract holders about subcontracting.
If you're not sure whether your registration is actually active, or whether you've opted into the Registry, USFCR's SAM Registration Assistance team can review your entity record and help you fix it before the next buying window opens.
