TAFT ASKS PRESIDENT TO EXPAND DISASTER DECLARATION
Seeks Federal Assistance for Government-related Costs and Expenses
COLUMBUS (December 2, 2002) - Governor Bob Taft today announced that he has asked President George W. Bush to expand the federal disaster declaration in northwest Ohio to include federal reimbursement of damage to government-owned structures in six counties and extraordinary expenses incurred by four state agencies as a result of the November 10 tornadoes. It's estimated that government-owned buildings, overtime costs and debris removal expenses totaled $2.6 million in Cuyahoga, Ottawa, Paulding, Seneca, Summit and Van Wert counties.
In a letter to President Bush, Taft wrote, "federal disaster assistance is necessary to ensure that local governments, critical private non-profits and the State may recover sufficiently in order to restore services and functions without further burdening a public hard hit by the same calamities."
Taft also outlined infrastructure damage, including:
· Destruction of the Van Wert County Engineers' maintenance complex
· Destruction of the Hoaglin Township Hall and garage in Van Wert County
· Destruction of the Washington Township hall and garage in Paulding
County
· $161,000 in debris removal expenses incurred by the city of Port Clinton
In addition, the Governor outlined more than $300,000 in extraordinary expenses tied to the tornadoes earlier this month by the Ohio Emergency Management Agency, Ohio Department of Transportation, Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio National Guard.
If the President approves the Governor's request, the Federal Emergency Management Agency would reimburse the counties and state agencies 75 percent of their extraordinary expenditures. The state of Ohio typically pays one half of the counties' 25 percent local share.
On November 15, Governor Taft requested a federal disaster declaration for individual assistance in six northwest Ohio counties. The President approved that request on November 18. Since then, the Ohio EMA and FEMA have worked cooperatively to coordinate individual assistance in the area.
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Contact: Joe Andrews, Governor's Office, at (614) 644-0957; or
Dick Kimmins, Ohio EMA, at (614) 799-3695.