President Barack Obama approved a major disaster delcaration for New Jersey Wednesday, paving the way for Essex County towns, among others in the state, affected by the late October snowstorm to secure federal funds for costs associated with emergency work and repairs resulting from the unexpected storm.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that federal disaster aid has been made available to New Jersey and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by the Oct. 29 snowstorm.

The late October storm dumped heavy, wet snow on the state, bringing down trees and power lines and causing widespread power outages that left more than 700,000 homes and businesses without electricity, some for several days.

The freak storm also forced school closures in many towns, and wreaked havoc on roadways, causing numerous accidents throughout the region. Earlier last month, Gov. Chris Christie told the president in a letter that the storm's impact was more damaging to trees and power lines than Hurricane Irene. Residents of many Essex County municipalities spent several days removing fallen branches and tree limbs from their property and contacting their insurance companies due to damages to their homes and vehicles as a result of the fallen trees.

Many townships are still cleaning up the debris.

This is good news, said Millburn Mayor Sandy Haimoff, whose town is among those in Essex still dealing with the aftermath of the storm that left some neighborhoods looking like war zones and without power up to nine days. Two schools in Short Hills were closed for five days as a result of downed power lines, branches on the routes and electrical outages.

The disaster declaration makes federal funding available to local governments as well as certain private, nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storm. In addition to Essex, the declaration also affects the counties of Cape May, Union, Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Sussex and Warren.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide, according to FEMA.