The Scioto County Commissioners have officially declared a local state of emergency after the high winds and flooding from Friday and Saturday.
The designation is important and allows local emergency responders to get the application process started for any potential state or federal disaster aid to the area. The state of emergency will last until cleanup has concluded, according to the resolution, or until the commissioners deem the emergency over.
While Gov. Mike DeWine toured the area Saturday and called the damage an “inconvenience” rather than a disaster, local officials say it’s hard to understand the impact of the high, fast-moving floodwaters and damaging wind when the storm has receded.
“It’s hard to describe what happened when the waters have receded,” said Scioto County Commission Chair Bryan Davis. “You can’t appreciate what happened when the water’s receded. … We’re resilient. We’re a flood-prone area. We’ve been here before, we’ll recover.”
The local impact on residents and government is ongoing as residents dive into the hard work of flood cleanup after the weekend’s weather event. Scioto County EMA Director Larry Mullins said there is damage countywide, including such items as: flooded basements, washed-out foundations, trees down on homes, damaged property, and food spoilage from continuing power outages.
“There’s quite a bit (of damage) throughout the city, the villages, Scioto County itself,” Mullins said. He reiterated the importance of those with property damage filling out the assessment form on his agency’s Facebook page. “It gives us kind of an idea what where you kind of fall in the scheme of things.”
He said Scioto County EMA sends its findings to the state EMA. Then, the state will come in and do their damage assessment to see if Scioto County can qualify for financial assistance.
“There’s a lot of red tape we have to go through,” Mullins said. “If you do have insurance, definitely contact your insurance people because they’re going to be away ahead. ..
“Please let us know about your damage so we can include that in our totals. I wish I had better news, folks, I wish I did.”
The commissioners said locals should thoroughly document the damage to their homes and property with photos and video. They should also fill out the assessment form on the Scioto County EMA Facebook page. This will allow local EMA officials to triage damage as well as make estimates that would help the area get the disaster declarations needed to qualify for state and federal disaster funds.
Reach Lori McNelly at [email protected] or at (740) 353-3101 ext. 1928. © 2024 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved
