Officials from state and federal agencies toured Butler County along the muddy Black River on Friday to assess the damage from flooding earlier this month and help determine if a federal disaster declaration is needed.
Robbie Myers, director of the Butler County Emergency Management, gave the group, which featured officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Missouri's State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the U.S. Small Business Administration, a tour of affected areas and also met with local officials.
"We are basically supporting state, county and local officials in the assessments," said Alberto Pillot, a FEMA information officer.
Butler is one of 32 counties in Missouri being surveyed for damage in preparation for Governor Eric Greitens to request a federal disaster declaration. The group was in Ripley County on Thursday.
"At this point we're waiting to see what happens on any possible declarations," Myers said.
If a federal major disaster declaration is made, programs can help eligible individuals with "temporary rental assistance, basic home repairs and other essential disaster-related needs not covered by insurance or other means," according to SEMA.
Residents with damaged homes should not wait for a declaration, officials said.
"We encourage everybody to call their insurance companies first, that's the main line of defense," Pillot said. "Document any --such as photographs or receipts --cleaning up."
That was evident by the piles of debris in front of homes or dumpsters around the county.
The tour started, Myers said, in south Poplar Bluff and featured stops in the northern and southern parts of the county along the river. Myers knocked on countless doors and spoke with dozens of residents but even if nobody answered the damage could be assessed.
FEMA considers major damage in a flood as at least 18 inches in a primary residence and Myers said, "some of them you could tell by the water mark."
Bj Barrows stood on the porch of her damaged home and got advice from the group, such as testing her water well with a kit from the Health Department.
Barrows and her sister, Robin Roth, returned to their home after a week away to begin the cleaning process. They got some help tearing out the soaked drywall and were looking for a contractor to start the rebuilding process. A recently purchased refrigerator had mud in it, Barrows said.
"Robin and I are going to pull out the floor," Barrows said. "We have to. We've got to start drying it out."
One of her neighbors in the area known as Paradise Point was waiting for an engineer to determine if it's safe to return home. David Pigg said the current washed away dirt near the side of his home, leaving a large hole, and left nearly 2 feet of soil on the other side.
One wall was completely pushed out from a structure next to Barrows' house. Inside was a riding lawnmower left behind when they evacuated and destroyed.
"We didn't think it would be like this," said Barrows who lived through the 2008 and 2011 floods.
Before that, the Black River had been above 20 feet only once (1982) in the previous 62 years.
In 2011 when the Black River crested at 21.41 feet on April 26, then governor Jay Nixon requested a declaration May 5 and it was granted by the president May 9. That year saw 242 declarations, according to FEMA, while last year there were 103.
Already this year there has been 19 major disaster declarations in the United States.
Pillot said FEMA is a reporting agency that works with the state to get people assistance in getting people "safe, sanitary and habitual situations."
President Donald Trump must sign an order of declaration specific to the county to open up a registration period for people who sustained damages, Pillot said, adding that it's one of three criteria for assistance. The others being damages to a primary residence.
Each state and county has different thresholds to meet disaster declarations, Pillot said.
"Right now there is no declaration, we're just gathering data," Pillot said. "We encourage all the residents that sustained damages to call their insurance companies, start cleaning out, document anything that they've sustained damages."
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Related websites for additional information:
Missouri Department of Public Safety: sema.dps.mo.gov
FEMA: fema.gov