Many Jefferson County residents will likely qualify for federal assistance to help them recover from the March 14 tornado-producing storm, Office of Emergency Management Director Warren Robinson said.
On April 2, Gov. Mike Kehoe requested federal assistance for Jefferson County residents, as well as for residents from 27 other counties to help them with the costs to recover from the March 14 storm.
According to the Governor’s Office, 13 people died during the storm, which also caused damage to homes, businesses and public infrastructures.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency must approve Kehoe’s request for counties to qualify for “individual assistance,” and to qualify, officials need to show how a disaster lowered residents’ quality of life and impacted people financially.
Robinson said he did not have an estimate of damage to residential and commercial structures throughout the county, but he guessed repairs would likely be in the millions.
Officials have estimated that it would cost $99,324,055 to repair damaged residential and commercial properties just in the city of Arnold, said Brian Carroll, the Arnold Police chief.
“We posted some significant numbers from Jefferson County on the individual assistance side, so I would be cautiously optimistic about our chances (for the county to qualify for individual assistance),” he said.
In addition to Jefferson County, Kehoe requested individual assistance for residents in Bollinger, Butler, Camden, Carter, Dunklin, Franklin, Howell, Iron, Laclede, Madison, New Madrid, Oregon, Ozark, Pemiscot, Perry, Phelps, Pulaski, Reynolds, Ripley, St. Louis, Stoddard, Wayne, Webster and Wright counties.
If approved, individual assistance would allow eligible residents to seek federal assistance for temporary housing, housing repairs, replacement of damaged belongings, vehicles and other qualifying expenses, the Governor’s Office said in a written statement.
“We are confident federal assistance will be forthcoming and greatly appreciate the critical work already being done by local response agencies and many volunteer partners to help Missourians in need,” Kehoe said in the statement.
While Kehoe applied for “individual assistance” for Jefferson County, the county wasn’t included in his request for “public assistance,” which, if approved, would have allowed local governments and qualifying nonprofit agencies to seek federal assistance for reimbursement of emergency response and recovery costs, including repair and replacement of damaged roads, bridges and other public infrastructure, the Governor’s Office reported.
Robinson said public assistance funds also may be used to cover costs for responding to emergencies, such as overtime pay for first responders, and repair costs.
However, Jefferson County did not have enough damage to government buildings and infrastructure to qualify for public assistance, he said.
“For public assistance, which covers government buildings, facilities and response, we would have to have about $1 million worth of damages to qualify for that,” Robinson said. “Public assistance only kicks in and covers the deductible on an insured facility. Most government facilities are insured and that takes down the amount of damages covered by (public assistance) by an extensive amount. We are not close to hitting that threshold.”
He said it would likely cost an estimated $900,000 to repair public infrastructure and facilities.
Kehoe requested “public assistance” for Bollinger, Butler, Callaway, Carter, Dunklin, Franklin, Howell, Iron, Madison, New Madrid, Oregon, Ozark, Perry, Phelps, Reynolds, Ripley, Scott, Shannon, Stoddard and Wayne counties.
The National Weather Service’s St. Louis office reported that on March 14 a tornado touched down near Clayton Huskey Road north of Hillsboro and went into Arnold. The tornado traveled 25.3 miles with a maximum wind speed of 115 mph.
Robinson said local officials and FEMA representatives surveyed the tornado’s path and reported that 24 structures were destroyed, 24 had major damage, 37 had minor damage and two others were affected by the tornado.
“I know there are more structures out there that were affected by the storm,” Robinson said. “That is just not what we were focused on when we were showing FEMA the impact to the community.”
Before Kehoe petitioned for federal assistance, a number of Multi-Agency Resource Center operated throughout the state, including at the Arnold Recreation Center on March 31. A MARC is a location for people to meet with state agencies and human service organizations for disaster-related assistance.
Robinson said 383 people representing 157 households attended the MARC in Arnold, adding that people seeking assistance did not have to live in Jefferson County to attend the MARC, and county residents also could have attended MARCs held elsewhere in the state.
“It was nice to see a coordinated response from multiple agencies,” Carroll said. “Those who were affected by the storms could access multiple resources at the recreation center, which eliminated the need to reach out separately to each organization.”
As of April 1, TJ’s Landscaping and Tree Service, which the city of Arnold had hired, was still picking up brush placed outside of homes in the city, Carroll said.
“They are working as quickly as possible,” he said. “We are receiving calls daily from our residents wanting their property cleared as soon as possible. We understand the concerns and appreciate everyone’s patience during these efforts.”
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources also is helping communities affected by the storm by offering debris removal, as well as technical assistance to drinking water or wastewater facilities impacted by power failures.
For assistance, call the St. Louis regional office at 314-416-2960 or the department’s emergency line 573-634-2436.
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