More Federal Funds to Help Oklahomans Recover from Winter Storms

News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The federal government has set aside nearly $68 million in grants to help Oklahoma communities still struggling to recover from the December 2009 blizzard and January 2010 ice storm.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM) announced Tuesday the money was on its way.

About $8 million will help pay for the massive clean-up effort after the storm. More than $24 million will go toward paying overtime costs for police and other emergency personnel, as well as the costs of repairing roads, bridges, public buildings, parks and recreational facilities.

Also included in that amount was nearly $36 million in reimbursements to eight Oklahoma electric cooperatives and associations that spent millions repairing infrastructure damaged during the storms.