Day two: FEMA takes to the ground in Jefferson City
Cole County officials believe the county has surpassed the amount of money in damages it needs to qualify for federal assistance.
Federal Emergency Management Agency teams began surveying an area including Cole County by helicopter Wednesday and teams fanned out on the ground in Jefferson City on Thursday. The agency is scheduled to assess the damage in Cole County on Monday.
Costs have to exceed a certain amount per capita for a local government to qualify for disaster aid, county officials have said.
“In Cole County it’s $3.26 per person, so $286,000,” Cole County Emergency Management Director Bill Farr said. “Once we go over that then we apply for this, so we definitely went over it.”
Farr said the county and residents would be eligible for public assistance grants and individual assistance grants.
“(FEMA) will be the ones that say yay or nay, this is allowable or not allowable… it’s just that simple,” Farr said.
A simple process, that takes time.
“It takes a period of time to do it, they have to come in and make sure all the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed, and make sure everything is legit and it’s a long process,” Farr said.
