The Federal Emergency Management Agency officially announced a disaster declaration for several Wiregrass counties Tuesday in connection with the flooding and torrential rain that soaked the area in late March and early April.
Wiregrass counties included in the declaration are Houston, Henry, Dale, Geneva and Coffee. Other counties declared as a result of the same line of storms are Baldwin, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Covington, Crenshaw, Dallas, Elmore, Lamar, Marengo, Perry, Russell, Washington, and Wilcox.
Houston County Commission Chairman Mark Culver said the official declaration comes as a relief, but does not significantly change the county’s repair schedule.
“We couldn’t wait on a declaration. We had to go ahead and start fixing the roads,” Culver said.
Culver said crews have been documenting damage to roads and bridges and other government-owned infrastructure damaged by the rain and floods. The declaration will allow the county to recoup much of the cost of repairs, emergency response costs and other flood-related costs.
The FEMA declaration Tuesday covers only assistance to local governments and some private non-profit organizations who responded in an effort to mitigate damages from the storms. Typically, FEMA covers at least 75 percent of disaster-related expenses, with the state picking up a percentage and counties being responsible for whatever is left. Culver said he does not know what the ratio will be for this declaration.
FEMA has not issued a declaration for individual assistance that would allow homeowners to recoup the costs of repairs to their homes. It is not known if or when FEMA will issue a declaration for individual assistance.
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