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May 6, 2010
Situation:
Sunday night into Monday morning Lawrence County once again experienced heavy
rains and flash flooding. Throughout the deluge, nearly every emergency services
agency in the county responded to multiple flood related emergency calls, with at
least 13 of 15 fire departments responding simultaneously to storm-related incidents.
At least 15 water rescues were conducted by fire departments and law enforcement
agencies bringing dozens of citizens to safety. In addition to rescue resources from
our county, the Cabell County Disaster Immediate Response Team assisted with
water rescues. 911 received numerous reports of homes being affected, roads being
flooded and multiple landslides occurring all across the county.
Disaster Declaration:
The decision and process of declaring a state of emergency for the county is not taken
lightly. It was clear from the calls that citizens, business owners and local
government would be affected and need assistance. Given the severity of flooding
and emergency calls, we anticipated that damages would be major over a widespread
area. After conferring together with Commissioner Stephens, the proactive decision
was made to sign a declaration of emergency and provide the declaration to the Ohio
Emergency Management Agency to be considered by Ohio’s Governor.
Note that most residents in the heavily affected areas are not covered by flood
insurance nor do they have the resources to recover quickly. Many families were
displaced from their homes: American Red Cross provided emergency housing to 6
families (0ver 20 individuals) and others stayed with friends and family members.
Most local governments (Trustees) lack the resources to restore public infrastructure.
Much of the land is government owned and the tax base is inadequate for maintaining
roads and drainages.
Damage Assessment:
On Monday morning, our office began the damage assessment process. In addition to
documenting individual flood victim info called in via telephone, we contacted each
political subdivision and offered to work with them to obtain public damage
assessments. As of close of business yesterday, the county had not achieved the
threshold required to obtain state and federal assistance. Individual assessments
require that we identify 25 homes and businesses that have sustained 40% or greater
damages or have reached the level of Major and Destroyed to be eligible for Small
Business Administration assistance (SBA)
Public damages:
Flood waters damaged roads, culverts and bridges on all levels: township, municipal,
county and state. The county engineer is working on a large slide (approx 150 ft) on
Elkins Creek (CR 5), several slides large and small occurred on township roads in
Windsor, Fayette and Upper Townships. Several short span bridges and culverts
were damaged or lost in several townships. The Engineer will be coordinating with
Trustees to complete bridge repairs. I have not received any written site-specific
documentation on these projects.
Continuing Activity:
* Receiving damage reports from citizens and businesses
* Verifying through site visits the reported damages
* Referring the county engineer and trustees to the Ohio Public Works
Commission to assure that any available emergency public infrastructure funds
can be applied where eligible.
* Referring affected individuals to service organizations such as the American
Red Cross, Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster, etc.
* Providing documentation to state agencies OEMA, etc.
Questions?