Daniels requests federal aid for 15 southern counties

Counties asking for federal funding for storm damage are still waiting to find out whether their request has been accepted.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels requested federal funding for 15 Indiana counties that sustained damages during a Jan. 26 winter storm that resulted in fallen power lines and tree limbs and damage to public infrastructure.

“The federal funds would inherit the cost of repair of the public infrastructure in the 15 counties,” Rachel Meyer, media contact for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, said.  

Meyer said Daniels sent a letter to President Barack Obama with a chart breakdown of how much estimated money is needed. He said Obama has the power to affirm or deny the request or issue an alternate amount of funds.

All the counties requesting federal assistance are situated in the southern part of the state, which includes Floyd, Warrick and Crawford counties.

Expenditures for Floyd County totaled about $1.9 million, said Terry Herthel, director of the county’s emergency management.

Herthel said the assistance would go toward reimbursement for debris removal.

“In Floyd County there was not a lot of structural damage; rather, there were downed trees and power outages,” Herthel said.  

He said Floyd County, along with the other 14 counties, if proved eligible, would receive 75 percent of the approved cost of damages incurred. Private electrical companies are not eligible for the federal funding.

Warrick County, located to the west of Floyd County, also needs assistance, and Dallas S. Scott, Warrick County’s director of emergency management, said the estimate is $800,000. Like Floyd County, the reimbursement would go mainly to the cleanup of debris, such as ice and snow removal and the removal of downed power lines and trees. The storm left 27,000 customers in Warrick County without power, Scott said.

Crawford County is asking for $149,000 in federal aid, some of which is for power. However, portions of this county are powered by cooperative power companies, meaning they are not privately run, said Kent Barrow, director of Crawford County’s emergency management.

“Parts of Crawford County receive power from Dubois and Harrison County,” Barrow said.

Companies that are not privately run are eligible for federal assistance.

Daniels sent the request for funding Feb. 20, but there is no guarantee the counties will receive the amount of money they requested.

“We have not received any word if the request was accepted or denied,” Meyer said.