DeWine Seeks Federal Disaster Declaration for April Storms, Flooding
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Belmont, Monroe and Jefferson are among eight counties that Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine believes qualify for federal funding in the wake of storms that caused millions of dollars in damages.
DeWine sent a letter Monday requesting a presidential disaster declaration from President Joe Biden to support counties impacted by severe storms, flooding and tornadoes in early April. DeWine notes in a news release that he made the request despite the Federal Emergency Management Agency's assertion that damage does not reach the threshold for federal assistance.
The severe weather occurred April 1-4, causing "significant damage to critical public infrastructure in Belmont, Monroe, Jefferson, Guernsey, Noble, Washington, Morgan, and Meigs counties," according to DeWine.
DeWine's letter to the White House states that local officials and the Ohio EMA calculated total damage of $33.8 million, well above the $21.7 million federal threshold for public disaster assistance in Ohio. FEMA's damage estimate was $17.4 million, which is $4.3 million under the federal threshold for public aid.
"Frankly, we think FEMA's estimate is incorrect," DeWine said. "The federal government's reliance on Google Earth and its failure to give local officials the opportunity to provide additional information to support its estimate is concerning. These eight Appalachian counties cannot afford to fix the tremendous amount of infrastructure damage on their own, and I believe it's the President's duty to step in and help."
Locally, more than 4 inches of rain fell over four days, causing street flooding and slips as early as April 1. As the week progressed, streams overflowed their banks and, by April 4, the Ohio River flooded. It crested at 41 feet at Wheeling, 5 feet above flood stage.
The flood water covered streets and athletic fields and infiltrated homes and businesses. At one point, it threatened to enter the Austin Master Services frack waste processing facility at Martins Ferry, where hazardous and radioactive materials could have leached into the water before it receded.
Businesses along portions of National Road in Bridgeport were forced to close, and the basement of the Brookside firehouse had to be emptied ahead of the coming flood. At higher elevations, the saturated soil caused massive slips that covered roads or pulled them apart.
Biden already approved a disaster declaration for several West Virginia counties affected by the same round of storms. Among those were Ohio, Marshall and Wetzel counties.
If granted for Eastern Ohio, the presidential declaration would "provide grants to state and local governments and certain nonprofit organizations for infrastructure repairs and to address the costs associated with debris operations and emergency protective measures. This also includes the designation of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program statewide," DeWine noted.
"The greatest impact from this incident is the damage to critical infrastructure in multiple counties, such as roads and culverts," DeWine wrote to Biden. "There are reports of hundreds of road washouts, whether a result of lost road materials or embankment failures.
"These are rural counties within the Appalachian Region with low county populations. Low populations result in low tax revenue for county engineer offices and townships. Funding daily operations is a challenge and making expensive repairs that result from this incident with their own budgets is not feasible."