This summer’s seemingly endless procession of calamitous weather events has led to President Barack Obama’s designation of a disaster declaration covering Harrison County as well as 67 other Missouri counties.
Gov. Jay Nixon announced Friday that the president has approved his request for a major disaster declaration as a result of prolonged flash flooding and severe storms across the state from May 15 to July 27.
John Barclay, Harrison County deputy emergency management director, said storm damage has been a repeating occurrence across the county since the first floods in May 15.
Local governments and nonprofit agencies in the 68 counties included in the declaration—the most for any disaster in Missouri since the Great Flood of 1993—can seek federal assistance for response and recovery expenses associated with the flooding and severe weather.
“The prolonged severe weather system that repeatedly hit Missouri with flooding and severe storms caused an estimated $38 million in damage to roads, bridges and other public infrastructure and resulted in at least 10 deaths,” Gov. Nixon said. “This declaration will help bring much needed financial assistance to the many communities that have sustained excessive response costs and heavy damaged to essential public infrastructure.”
Bethany City Administrator Jan Hagler said the city still is waiting for a response from FEMA to assist in replacing a culvert that was washed out on Bartlett Street, south of the park. The city has completed a hydrology study that determined that a pair of culverts will have to be installed at the location to improve drainage. In the meantime, Bartlett Street between 39th Street and 27th Street remains closed to traffic.
According to an announcement from FEMA, Michael L. Parker has been named the federal coordination officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area. Parker said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.
Gov. Nixon first declared a state of emergency in Missouri on June 18. The governor’s order activated the State Emergency Operations Center and enabled the state to mobilize its resources, including the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to assist local authorities. The governor has extended the state of emergency until Friday, Aug. 14.