BOSTON — With the long-awaited announcement of storm damage relief funding at the Massachusetts Municipal Association’s annual conference this past weekend, Deerfield and Conway, as well as 35 other communities around the state, are finding themselves on more stable financial footing.

The Healey-Driscoll administration announced Saturday morning the first round of disaster relief funding for 37 communities around Massachusetts that suffered extreme damage from torrential rainstorms in July and August.

In this first release of funding, $10 million of $15 million approved in a December supplemental budget will be distributed across the state to communities affected by storm damage. The remaining $5 million will be awarded in the spring to support municipalities affected by September storms, according to a press release from Gov. Maura Healey’s office.

Through this funding, Deerfield will get $1.58 million and Conway will receive nearly $1.25 million — both among the largest awards in the state. Other Franklin County towns receiving money include $400,000 for Ashfield; $105,000 for Greenfield; $55,000 for Wendell; $20,000 each for Buckland, Leverett and Shutesbury; and $30,000 each for Gill and Heath.

The funding comes at a crucial point for Deerfield and Conway, which recently approved up to $5 million and $1.5 million in borrowing authority, respectively, to pay for road repairs in the wake of back-to-back-to-back storms in mid-July.

“It’s a rare ray of sunshine from the state in our direction. … It’s so meaningful, we’re not going to have to increase the tax burden on residents,” said Conway Selectboard Chair Philip Kantor, who has been critical of the state’s response — with the exception of the Department of Transportation — in the past. “It went in our direction this time and that doesn’t happen without advocacy and having your arguments find fertile ground.”

In neighboring Deerfield, town officials are sharing a similar sigh of relief.

“We have a really good path forward and we’re excited. … The immediate crisis of cash flow and paying off the emergency repairs has been addressed,” said Deerfield Selectboard Chair Carolyn Shores Ness. “All of us are relieved.”

Conway suffered millions in damages — Kantor said estimates exceeded the town’s non-school budget total of approximately $2.7 million — while Deerfield has already completed more than $2.1 million in repairs and is expecting its totals to be closer to $3 million once work is complete.

Even with the authority, Kantor said his town will likely avoid borrowing money thanks to this state funding. Meanwhile, other projects — such as the public safety complex addition — can proceed. He also expects the town to work on stormwater management infrastructure to alleviate future flooding.

In Deerfield’s case, Shores Ness guaranteed there will be an article on the warrant at Annual Town Meeting in the spring to rescind a good chunk of the authority to borrow up to $5 million, and grants will cover long-term work and improvements.

“We are putting a warrant article for the rescinding of the borrowing, but we’re going to leave the exact number blank until we make it through the winter. … We’re hoping we don’t need to borrow,” Shores Ness said. “You don’t know what kind of weather events we’re going to have to get through before Town Meeting.”

On top of the $10 million in funding, the state also announced it is boosting the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program by $7 million, which will specifically help communities plan, design and construct nature-based solutions to flooding.

“Lt. Gov. [Kim] Driscoll and I have spent the past year visiting municipalities that suffered catastrophic damage due to severe weather. We knew they needed more support to rebuild, which is why we worked with the Legislature to secure these disaster relief funds,” Healey said in a statement. “We’re proud to be delivering the first round of these funds to 37 cities and towns to relieve some of the burden they’ve been facing.”

Deerfield Selectboard member Tim Hilchey and Kantor both thanked the Healey-Driscoll administration, as well as the work of state Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, and Rep. Natalie Blais, D-Deerfield, for their work in pushing this funding forward.

“It was a team effort on behalf of our representatives and town government,” Kantor said. “And I won’t have to call the governor’s office every day anymore.”

Adding to Kantor’s sentiment, Hilchey said the state has done a “phenomenal” job of setting up the fund in December and distributing the money a little over a month later, emphasizing Healey and Driscoll “not only talk the talk, but they walk the walk.”

“It’s clear the governor and lieutenant governor understand the problems rural communities face, and they work well with Natalie Blais and Jo Comerford to work effectively to address the issues,” Hilchey said. “We planned to be able to give voters the opportunity to see what we’ve done and hopefully we won’t have to borrow any of the money.”

Other regional towns receiving money from the state include $365,000 for Northampton; and $20,000 each for Royalston, Plainfield and Williamsburg.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.