City hopes for FEMA funds
Published 7:17 am Monday, September 1, 2008
Total flood losses in Austin from historic water levels mid-June totaled about $430,000, according to the city engineer’s office, which has submitted 29 categories in reimbursement requests for damage costs incurred.
Austin city engineer Jon Erichson said the department is hoping for a 90 percent reimbursement rate from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is currently collecting claims from the county and more than a dozen rural towns and townships.
Many were affected by June 12 floods, characterized at the “third-worst” in Austin’s history, resulting from thunderstorms that forced the Cedar River, Dobbins Creek and Turtle Creek to rise far above their shores.
The Cedar River crested at 20.5 feet.
Erichson said Friday that most of their repair work has concluded, with only a few outliers remaining. He said much of their reimbursements are for emergency preparation, including city time and equipment, and debris removal.
“We are probably at 95 percent completion, though we have a few outstanding things to do,” he said.
Preliminary estimates suggested about $1.7 million in damages, mostly because of suspected issues affecting a digester at Austin’s waste water treatment plant.
Ultimately, only $20,000 was spent on the facility. Much of past city-wide problems were allayed by flood mitigation efforts, which continue in Austin. Erichson said he will review goals and project status for property acquisitions and the city’s $11.5 million North Main Plan, which seeks to protect commercial and residential property in and around downtown. The city has been seeking more than $28 million for mitigation efforts citywide.
It’s progress is heavily dictated by grant and program funding sought from the state and federal level.
“Once again, it’s going to be really where we get the funding,” Erichson said.
In his request for federal funding, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty cited a total of $1.76 million in need for Mower County across five of seven categories: $182,000 in debris removal; $190,000 in emergency protective measures; $880,000 for roads and bridges; $10,000 for water control facilities; and $425,000 for utilities. The governor’s disaster declaration sought $8.29 million for the counties of Mower, Freeborn, Fillmore and Houston for flood events between June 7-12, the book-end dates for FEMA funding in the region.
Representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the county engineer’s office could not be reached. County engineer Mike Hanson offered a preliminary estimate of $175,000.