Letters back Benton County's bid for federal assistance
Washington,
February 29, 2020
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National Security
Letters back Benton County's bid for federal assistance
2/29/2020 Arkansas Democrat Gazette BENTONVILLE -- Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Arkansas' congressional delegation have sent letters to President Donald Trump to appeal a federal decision refusing to help pay the cost to clean up tornado damage in Benton County. The letters were sent through George A. Robinson, Federal Emergency Management Agency Region 6 administrator, to the president. About Region 6 Federal Emergency Management Agency Region 6, based in Texas, oversees federal emergency management for the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, and 68 federally recognized tribal nations. Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency Benton County Judge Barry Moehring mentioned the letters at the Quorum Court meeting Thursday night. FEMA denied the county's original request for aid. Robert McGowen, county public safety administrator, said the county was notified by letter of the decision Jan. 24. The letter didn't specify why the county was denied, but state Emergency Management officials said it was because the county didn't meet the threshold for assistance, McGowen said. McGowen was told the county was short of the $4,461,355 threshold by $124,134. The threshold is a per-capita number based on population, McGowen said Friday. The difference arose after FEMA officials reviewed the county's initial paperwork, he said. Hutchinson's letter said Benton County's damage estimate is now at $5,567,966. "Benton County and its communities had significant damages in the month of October, and I expect costs to rise even more as recovery efforts continue," Hutchinson wrote. Storm cleanup, as estimated by the county, will exceed 500,000 cubic yards of debris, Hutchinson wrote. A second letter noted the state has had 11 gubernatorial declarations and three federally declared disasters since 2017. That letter was signed by Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton and Reps. Steve Womack, Rick Crawford, French Hill and Bruce Westerman. The six comprise the state's Congressional delegation. "In fact, before the system of severe storms and tornadoes in October 2019, Arkansas was in the process of recovering from historic flooding that took place earlier in 2019," the letter reads. Damage assessments from the two October tornadoes to hit Benton County tallied $6.5 million for uninsured public property, McGowen previously said. The assessments came from the county, Cave Springs, Highfill, Rogers, Siloam Springs, Siloam Springs Electric Department and Carroll Electric Cooperative. Most of the damage -- $5.5 million worth -- involved the two electric companies. "For some reason, FEMA did not accept the preliminary damage assessment numbers we provided them and reduced the amounts that were submitted by the entities," McGowen said. If the county doesn't win the appeal, each entity will be responsible for the cost incurred from the tornado, he said. FEMA would pay 75% of the costs if the appeal is granted. There's no timetable for when the county will get a decision on its appeal. The two tornadoes early Oct. 21 produced wind exceeding 100 mph, according to the National Weather Service. The first began in Adair County in northeast Oklahoma and tracked about 9 miles to Siloam Springs and the second started in Siloam and traveled about 31 miles across Benton County to southeast of Avoca. The storms claimed the life of one man. |
