By Wayne Gates

The damage estimate to local roads after last month’s flooding has now topped two million dollars.

Officials with the Ohio Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency held a joint damage assessment meeting for local county, village and township officials on the situation on March 12.

The group met at the Huntington Township Fire Department to make sure that all claims of flooding damage were being properly documented and reported.

On March 11, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency in 20 Ohio counties impacted by damaging flooding last month.

Ohio counties included in the governor’s emergency proclamation include: Adams, Athens, Brown, Gallia, Guernsey, Hocking, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Pike, Ross, Scioto, Vinton, and Washington.

“Many of these counties were still recovering from last year’s severe flooding when they were hit hard yet again,” said Governor DeWine in a press release. “This is a key step in getting these 20 counties the assistance they need.”

The press release continued, “The counties suffered from significant infrastructure damage as heavy rains poured down on already-saturated soils, damaging public infrastructure like roads and culverts. Beginning February 5 and lasting through February 13, severe storms and excessive rainfall created “dangerous and damaging conditions affecting the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Ohio,” according to the governor’s proclamation.

The state of emergency proclamation authorizes various state departments and agencies to coordinate the state and federal response and to assist local government in protecting the lives, safety, health, and property of the residents of Ohio.”

A similar situation occurred in February of last year when 14 counties were included in a state disaster declaration.

That led to a the declaration of a Major Presidential Disaster in 2018, which opened up federal funding for repairs. Whether a similar presidential declaration will happen this time depends on large part on the amount of damage reported in the region.

“The federal and state teams will take the damage assessments back to FEMA Region 5 in Chicago and will make the decision on whether to ask the President for a disaster declaration,” said Brown County EMA Director Barb Davis.

“If a federal disaster is declared, FEMA will sit down with each individual political entity with damage. They will do site visits and look at photographs then approve projects.”

Davis said that local residents should not expect roads damaged by recent flooding to be fixed in the short term.

“This is a long process. We are just now making repairs from damage in 2016. It takes a couple of years for the process to play out.”

Davis said that temporary measures can be taken to make sure that roads are safe while the repair funding process plays out.

“Many places have to take money out of their general fund to pay for their projects, then wait for the reimbursement and then turn around and do it again for the next project. It can be frustrating for them,” Davis said.

If a federal disaster is declared, Davis said that the federal government would fund 75 percent of the repair cost and the state would pay for 12.5 percent. Local entities would have to pay for the rest. However, it’s possible that local governments could get a break.

“Last year, the state picked up the local portion, so the villages and townships just have to be able to put the funds forward to manage the projects and then get reimbursed,” Davis said.

Troy Christensen, External Affairs Officer with FEMA, echoed Davis’s comments on the slow nature of repair work.

“The reimbursement process could be a long process. It depends on a lot of different factors. With landslides, they require engineering work and the participation of other state and local agencies, so it can take some time,” he said.

“We are all working together to make sure that process goes as smoothly as possible and to get those reimbursements for the last disaster as quickly as possible.”

Samuel Reed, Emergency Management Specialist with the Ohio EMA Southwest Region, said that winter flooding is becoming a routine problem.

“What used to be snow time has become flood time in the winter. We just have to adapt to the seasonal issues we are having.”

Davis said that anyone who finds damage that they think could be related to the February flooding should call their local township or village so the damage can be evaluated.

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