Representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Missouri’s State Emergency Management Agency, and the Small Business Administration conducted a preliminary damage assessment in Butler County on Thursday evening to determine if the region qualifies for emergency disaster aid.
Butler County Emergency Manager Robbie Myers said the results will appear before the governor. If the governor feels the disaster is not within the state’s ability to handle, he can apply for federal assistance.
If approved, the president may then authorize the use of federal funding to assist with repairs and reconstruction.
“From all indicators, we anticipate that both the president and the governor will declare it a disaster,” Myers stated.
The assessors are making their way through 10 counties in Missouri affected by the recent storms.
“Preliminary damage assessments are designed to gather general information about the disaster’s impacts,” the FEMA public statement described. “In the 10 counties, disaster specialists will broadly canvas affected areas to see what kind of damage has been sustained to residences and businesses, as well as the level of insurance coverage.”
The FEMA team toured Butler County, reviewing uprooted trees, washed-out roads and damaged homes. After winding through M Highway and County Route 462, the group returned to the Butler County Highway Department shed to review the debris piles.
Disaster specialists measured the stacks of collected detritus formerly blocking county roads. Myers informed the team the large pile measuring roughly 35 feet long and 12 feet high is just one of four in addition to a tree trunk too large to be moved by a loader.
FEMA representative Terry Davis said the threshold Butler County needs to reach to qualify for aid is $170,000. City Manager Matt Winters informed the group his preliminary estimate just for the city exceeds $260,000.
This number includes the wages paid to first responders and overtime for street department personnel. Myers added the damage and man-hours outside city limits for Ozark Border Electric Cooperative easily put Butler County above the threshold.
While FEMA does not have a firm timeline for the release of aid the agency encourages Missourians with unmet needs to contact United Way or the American Red Cross. Additional services are available at recovery.mo.gov.