Representatives from the Union County Emergency Management Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Small Business Administration and the Ohio Emergency Management Agency, visited Union County last week to conduct a Joint Preliminary Damage Assessment after severe weather blew through Union and Logan counties on March 14. National Weather Service officials confirmed an EF-2 tornado passed through Union County that day, damaging or destroying 80 homes.
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Some Union County residents impacted by recent severe weather may still get some financial assistance despite not having insurance.
Brad Gilbert, director of the Union County Emergency Management Agency, told county officials this week that a declaration request from Gov. Mike DeWine’s office could help get those funds to residents.
The National Weather Service confirmed that the severe weather that passed through the area on March 14 produced an EF-3 tornado in Logan County and an EF-2 tornado in Union County.
Last week, DeWine announced that he initiated “several federal and state disaster aid mechanisms which could bring financial relief to Ohioans affected by the severe weather incidents.”
Among the requests was a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Presidential Disaster Declaration. If approved by the White House, the declaration will allow aid for “eligible damages that have not been reimbursed by other government programs or private insurance.”
“It will allow those with uninsured losses for residential homes as well as, for the first time ever, under-insured, which is something new that FEMA is doing,” Gilbert said. “So, if (residents) are under-insured for their home, they can receive some funding. It won’t pay the total cost of a new house, it’ll just be some funding to help them get started with a down payment or what have you.”
According to a press release from DeWine’s office, “FEMA declarations are granted at the discretion of the President and often take several months for a decision to be issued after the Governor’s application.”
Gilbert said he would offer an update if and when that gets a response.
He said his office is working with residents to find options for those with uninsured structures and equipment on their properties that don’t fall under the residential house option.
“We did find that there was a lot of people that have a lot of out-buildings, a shed or barns, that they didn’t have insurance on and the equipment in it wasn’t insured. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot to be done. We’re trying to find options for them,” he said. “There is a chance that the Small Business Administration (SBA) may do some low-interest loans that could be available for people.”
That action was also part of DeWine’s activation of relief programs following the storms.
“According to federal guidelines, the SBA may begin to set up a local office and prepare for loan applications no sooner than 21 days after Governor DeWine’s FEMA declaration request that was issued (March 29),” according to the release.
Following a visit by several state and federal agencies last week, Gilbert said the official damage assessment listed 80 total homes with damage, four considered destroyed, six had major damage, 29 had minor damage and 41 affected in some way.
While this week also had a severe weather warning, storm cells diminished to mostly heavy rain before arriving in Union County.
Ahead of the weather, Gilbert said his office, the City of Marysville and the Union County Sheriff’s Office all received calls from concerned residents asking if there were existing options for sheltering from the storms.
“With what happened in Logan County, we have a lot of people in trailer parks, apartment buildings, that want to know where to go. They want to know if the county has public shelters for severe weather. Unfortunately, we don’t,” he said. “It’s very challenging to have something like that. Sometimes you’ll see a trailer park build a multi-purpose room that doubles as a tornado safe room but none of ours in Marysville or Union County have that.”
He said it’s not uncommon for counties to be without something like that and he just encouraged residents to be as “weather aware” as possible any time severe weather is forecasted.