Tour of flood damage takes FEMA officials across county
Posted on Thursday, April 17, 2008
State and federal officials toured flood-damaged roads, bridges and culverts near the west end of Washington County on Wednesday to determine if public funding assistance will be provided.
"If we have time, we'll look at some of the tornado damage on the east side of the county, too," County Administrator John Gibson said Wednesday. "What we don't get finished looking at today we'll look at tomorrow."
Gibson, along with county Emergency Management Director John Luther, pointed out damaged areas to officials from the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Some of the damaged sites visited included: Wyman Road, Mount Olive, Colcleasure and Durham McCord.
Gibson said he anticipated that Washington County would qualify for public assistance from the state. Assistance from FEMA has yet to be determined, he said.
The public assistance program reimburses local and state agencies and certain nonprofit agencies for expenses and damages that occur during the response and recovery phase of a disaster.
The tour Wednesday gave state and local officials a chance to make a preliminary damage estimate, Gibson said.
"Today just gives them a chance to get a closer look," he said. "As we've toured the county, the damage tally keeps going up. "
FEMA Project Officer Robert Fowler said he would calculate total flood damage to determine qualification for public assistance.
"We'll look at the cost of labor, equipment and materials needed to restore the roads to their original condition," he said. "Right now we're still calculating numbers."
Luther said officials plan to tour damage caused by flooding and tornadoes that occurred April 10. The storm left most areas of Washington County with an additional 2-4 inches of rain. The added rainfall pushed many already swollen riverbanks past the point of flooding. In addition to power outages, road closings and flooded homes, the National Weather Service confirmed at least two EF-2 tornado touchdowns near Evansville and Round Mountain, with wind speeds up to 135 mph.
The Enhanced Fujita Scale is used in the United States to rate the strength of tornadoes by the damage they cause. The scale ranges from 0-5, representing increasing levels of damage.
As of last week, local emergency officials received reports of at least four damaged homes.
Officials plan to link the April 10 flooding with at least two previous flooding events that happened during the past two months. If infrastructure damage sustained during all three floods meets the state or federal threshold, the county could qualify for public assistance.
On March 18, Washington County sustained about $ 235, 000 in infrastructure damage and recorded one fatality after receiving more than 6 inches of rain. State and federal officials assessed area damage on March 31 - just hours before a second storm rolled in. That storm produced about an inch of rain during a one-hour period.
According to an initial evaluation, Washington County didn't meet the threshold for state or federal funding. Damage costs must reach a minimum of $ 300, 000 for assistance from the state and at least $ 480, 000 to qualify for public assistance through FEMA.
Earlier this month, Luther said state and federal officials approved individual assistance for area residents and businesses. The program aids eligible applicants with temporary housing assistance, uninsured personal property and medical, dental and funeral expenses caused by disasters, and other serious needs. While some housing assistance funds are available through the Individuals and Households Program, most disaster assistance from the federal government is in the form of loans administered by the Small Business Administration.
"The flooding was unprecedented in how widespread the damage was," Gibson said. "It's taxing our resources to get out to all the places that need to be fixed."
Washington County maintains more than 1, 000 miles of county roads. Of those, 600 miles are gravel.
According to County Judge Jerry Hunton, county road crews are continuing to work overtime to reopen all roads and make them passable to at least one lane of traffic. Hunton urges area residents to be patient. Repair to both paved and gravel roads will have priority over all other county projects, he said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service was predicting a 30 percent chance of rain for today, with a 90 percent chance of rain tonight. A 30 percent chance was expected before 1 p.m. Friday.
"If we get more rain, let's hope it's not very much," Hunton said. "If it is, I expect that FEMA will come back up here and just keep on doing what they have in the past. I expect they'd probably tack on any additional damage to the previous estimate. Either way, we'll just have to keep on truckin'."
Residents who have sustained uninsured losses to their homes, businesses or property from flood damage can contact the county Emergency Management Department at 444-1723 or FEMA at (800 ) 621-3362.
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