On Tuesday, Bell County officials received a notice from FEMA of a federal disaster declaration for Texas. It was signed by President Bush on June 29 to release funds to individuals and communities attempting to recover from severe storms, tornadoes and flash floods.
But it shows a date for coverage of “June 16 and continuing” rather than beginning with May 22 and continuing forward, Precinct 2 County Commissioner Tim Brown said.
Brown said Bell County Judge Jon Burrows and Gov. Rick Perry had requested the earlier dates.
Beginning May 22 a series of severe thunderstorms and flash floods caused damage to property primarily in West Bell County, Brown said. It also saw six people die from drowning - four victims in Bell County and two in Coryell County.
Brown said Bell County officials are attempting to get an amendment to the declaration to include the dates May 22 to June 16.
Brown said the “June 16 and continuing” incidence time frame was not an administrative or clerical error. “It purposely applies to a specific point in time,” he said.
Brown said federal disaster declarations are based on a criteria of dollar value of damage. He said the damage in May and early June in Bell County - primarily West Bell County - was not enough by itself to meet those criteria.
Brown said Bell County had to be included with 16 other counties where the aggregate damage qualified for federal assistance.
“We have had an effort under way to amend the declaration to extend the dates back for Bell,” Brown said.
“At this point, anyone registering who experienced damage prior to June 16 is not covered unless we get the amendment approved,” Brown said.
Brown said the weather events that occurred after June 16 included the flooding in Salado and extreme flooding in Marble Falls and Burnet County.
“We are definitely involved in that second window of weather events,” he said.
Brown said the county is arguing that the earlier weather event that began with the May 22 flash flood was the beginning of an ongoing weather condition that is cumulative.
He said he had a meeting Thursday with FEMA’s regional liaison for the Waco District.
“We want to keep this documentation (requesting the amendment) in front of them,” he said.
Brown said two items were on the agenda for discussion. He said the first is advance work for setting up field teams in Bell County who will come in on the ground to see who has damage that qualifies them under the current declaration.
“And we will discuss the amendment,” he said.
Brown said property owners who had storm damage prior to June 16 should register regardless.
“That will be one of our arguments,” he said. “We will know more when we see how many register. The more we have the better chance we have of getting the amendment.”
Julie Bradford, spokeswoman for FEMA’s Waco District, said the incident period initially signed by the president was June 16-18. She said the state requested a change to June 16 and continuing because it kept raining.
“There’s no reason people (from the May-June event) shouldn’t register and get their name in the hopper, Ms. Bradford said. “Plus, many who suffered damage in May were affected again June 16 and afterward.
“The more registrants we get the better the argument to amend.”
She said preliminary assessment teams visited counties in June to collect data on both private homes and public properties to see which qualified.
“We have an outreach program - a community relations team - that is knocking doors to get the word out to people telling them what they need to know and how to register.”
Chad Berg, emergency management coordinator for Killeen, said damage records to roads and bridges in Bell County are estimated in excess of $200,000 for the May-June time period.
Bell County is included with Archer, Burnet, Cooke, Coryell, Denton, Eastland, Grayson, Hood, Lampasas, Parker, Starr, Tarrant, Victoria, Webb, Wichita, and Williamson Counties in FEMA declaration No. 1709-DR - the June 16 and continuing period.
hclark@temple-telegram.com
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