Missouri asks for disaster assistance in additional Missouri counties
The state of Missouri requested the Federal Emergency Management Agency expand the federal disaster declaration on Tuesday. The new request seeks to make FEMA assistance available to people and businesses in 21 additional counties, including Callaway, Howard and Coopers counties. It also asks FEMA to provide help to public agencies in 68 counties to help fix damaged infrastructure including roads and bridges.
In the request, the State Emergency Management Agency said damage assessment teams discovered more than $26 million in infrastructure damage and emergency response costs. SEMA also said the state of Missouri had damage and expenses totaling more than $23 million due to the flooding and storms.
The request from Parson’s office claims that Callaway County officials, along with officials in Clark, Lewis, Saline and St. Louis counties, found damaged areas that FEMA’s preliminary damage assessment did not record. The letter also said that bad weather during FEMA’s flyover assessment of Cooper, Howard, Gasconade and St. Genievieve counties caused federal officials to miss some damage.
“The individuals and families in the counties mentioned are in desperate need of federal assistance,” the letter from SEMA director Ron Walker said. “They will not be able to recover from this catastrophic event without that assistance.”
Walker’s letter also notes that Cooper County residents affected by the flood did not have flood insurance, meaning the Individual Assistance program may be one of the few ways people there could get relief from the flood.
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler also sent a letter to President Donald Trump and FEMA on Tuesday advocating for six Missouri counties that are not included in a federal disaster declaration.
“It is important that Howard, Barton, Cooper, Dallas, Hickory and Laclede Counties be selected for individual assistance as part of the President’s emergency declaration,” Hartzler said in a statement.
She said she’s hopeful FEMA will include the counties as it continues assessing flood damage in Missouri.
Last week, Trump declared that a major disaster exists in Missouri and ordered federal assistance to help state and local recovery efforts in areas affected by tornadoes, flooding and severe storms. The declaration covered 20 counties including Boone, Chariton, Cole, Miller, Osage and Pulaski in central Missouri.
Approval allows people living in those counties to register with FEMA for financial assistance and qualifies businesses for special low-interest loans.
Several mid-Missouri counties have been affected by historic flooding on the Missouri River this spring. Cole and Miller counties were also hit by a tornado May 22 which damaged hundreds of buildings in Eldon and Jefferson City.
The declaration is the second Missouri request approved by the president in a two-month span.
The flooding also affected Howard and Cooper counties in mid-Missouri, with the river and its tributaries breaching or overtopping several levees and sparking evacuation orders in some areas.
