FEDERAL FUNDING
FEMA promises more than $50K in aid
By Lori Mellinger editor@bullardnews.com

What began as a small item in the newspaper, turned into a lot of relief for storm damage repair for the City of Bullard.

The city expects to receive about $56,000 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) aid for damage to infrastructure and various other costs associated with area flooding between July 16 and Aug. 3.

"We were looking through the newspaper one day and saw that FEMA was offering reimbursement costs for storm damage,City Manager Larry Morgan.

After that, Morgan had a conversation with Mayor A.W. Hines.

Hines then contacted Smith County Judge Joel Baker.

Baker had been in communication with FEMAofficials and the commissioners were working on having the area declared a disaster.

Hines - with the help of the city staff - researched specific problems and immediately sent a letter to Baker, asking to be included in the disaster declaration.

"It was left to the individual cities to contact the coordinating person," Hines said. "We were working on a tight deadline for inclusion, so we made so rough estimates on damages incurred.

"Our crew has - since the subsiding of the rain this week - assessed the damage done in all parts of Bullard, and we believe the sum total will be in the amount of $28,000," Hines wrote in a letter to Baker.

Specified in the list of affected areas were: needed lift station repair, sinking and washed out pavement, damage to the city's clarifier, manhole repair, and culvert blockage.

Smith County used the information - along with that of other cities - to fit the requisites for disaster relief.

Since that time, city employee Shawn Osborne helped research the damages and found that other things, such as overtime could be submitted as well.

Osborne met with a FEMA representative over a period of weeks and the two toured the area.

Osborne pointed out damages and put together paperwork for the agency.

Morgan received word last week of the news, and he said he's pleased.

"We were fortunate to recover any of the money spent," he said. "And it will enable us to do projects we wouldn't have the money to otherwise do."

Morgan said most of the work had already been done, but now they'll receive reimbursement for it that will go back into the general fund.

But it won't come immediately.

"This still has to go through about four more committees, and it will then be sent to Washington D.C.," he said.

Of the refund, a quarter of the money must be paid to the state.

Federal disaster assistance to Texas residents and businesses affected by the severe storms, tornadoes and flooding had, last week, reached $55,541,143 officials from FEMA.

The following is a summary of ongoing response and recovery efforts:

! To date, FEMA has approved a total of $19,369,150 in disaster housing assistance through its Individual Assistance program, which includes temporary rental assistance for those whose homes have been severely damaged and funds to make essential repairs. Individual Assistance is available to residents in 43 Texas counties.

! An additional $4,442,387 has been approved for the Other Needs Assistance program which helps pay for items and services such as: medical and dental care, funeral costs (as a result of the flooding), transportation expenses and household items and clothing.

! 13,440 individuals and families affected by recent flooding have registered for assistance through FEMA's tollfree registration line, 800-621- FEMA or by going online to www.fema.gov. Recovery specialists are available to assist with the registration process, provide counsel on assistance programs and also check on the status of an application. The registration deadline is October 29, 2007.

! FEMA has approved more than $8,653,306 through its Public Assistance program, which is available to state agencies, tribal and local governments, and certain private nonprofits in 71 counties, more than one-quarter of all Texas counties. Public Assistance funds are used to reimburse expenses for emergency protective measures, to remove debris and restore damaged infrastructure.