FEMA to allow access to disaster relief support
LAURA GUIDO / Idaho Capital Sun | Bonner County Daily Bee | UPDATED 2 weeks, 5 days AGO
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, announced Saturday that certain entities in Idaho may access federal disaster assistance for recovery from major windstorms in December.
Public assistance funding is available to state, tribal, local governments and certain private non nonprofits for emergency work and the repair and replacement of facilities damaged by the “straight-line winds” in Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce and Shoshone counties, the release said.
Funding and assistance “will be based on applicant needs and eligible damages,” a FEMA spokesperson told the Idaho Capital Sun in an email. “We will share updates as funding is obligated.”
The windstorms hit much of the northwestern U.S. Dec. 16-18, with wind gusts that exceeded 80 miles per hour causing widespread power outages and the death of a man in Kootenai County after a tree fell on his home, the Associated Press reported.
Twin Falls County also experienced high winds that uprooted old, internally rotten trees, which fell and critically injured two children, the Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office reported. The children were both under 10 and were waiting for the school bus. Twin Falls County was not listed as an area eligible for FEMA assistance.
“Additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments,” the FEMA release said.
Vincent J. Maykovich has been named as the federal coordinating officer for federal recovery operations in the affected areas, the release said.
The Trump administration recently approved disaster declaration requests for at least seven states, including Idaho, the AP reported, which opens the door to federal funds and support for recovery.
The ongoing government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security may affect FEMA disaster relief. FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund doesn’t lapse, the AP reported, but it is running low. The appropriations bill for DHS would replenish the fund.
More information about the windstorm disaster may be found online at fema.gov/disaster/4905.