The state is tapping into a $150 million pot of emergency management money to deal with the aftermath of two tropical storms that devastated parts of upstate New York last month.

Members of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s cabinet left a roughly hour-long private meeting this morning, called ostensibly to discuss the legislative session in January.

(Cuomo did not take questions following the meeting).

Budget Director Bob Megna told reporters after the meeting that some of the money taken from the emergency management fund will be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

And Department of Transportation Commissioner Joan McDonald said the state initiated its emergency contracting procedure to help move along needed repairs to roads and bridges that had been washed away by the storm.

If anything, the flooding that hit the Catskills and the North Country, along with the flooding in the Southern Tier in the wake of what was left of Tropical Storm Lee showed how Cuomo deployed his cabinet to respond to the crisis.

Criticism of the Cuomo administration’s handling of the immediate response to the flooding has been virtually non-existent. Meanwhile, the important Essex County artery Route 73 opened earlier this week ahead of schedule.

Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Darrel Aubertine, who has been made co-chairman of a cabinet-level task force charged with repairing storm damaged infrastructure, said

“Suffice it to say I believe that state agencies working side by side with local agencies and I think we’ve done very well. I think everyone is doing very well and pulling in the same direction,” Aubertine said.

It remains unclear how much the damage from Lee will cost. Cuomo previously pegged the damage from the earlier storm to be about $1 billion.

Aubertine said he was impressed with the speedy re-opening of Route 73, but said the cost was unclear.

“I really don’t know what those numbers were, other than to say those reprairs were done in an expeditious way for sure,” he said.

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