Storm Recovery Could Bankrupt Rural Areas, State Asks For Help

Monday, January 29th 2007, 5:39 pm

By: News On 6

Recovering from Oklahomaâ€™s recent ice storm is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars, and that could bankrupt rural areas without federal help. An emergency disaster has been declared, but that doesn't offer as much help as some are expecting.

News on 6 reporter Heather Lewin says now some state lawmakers are asking for more.

State leaders estimate the ice storm caused nearly $40 million in damage, much of that to individual homes. The current disaster declaration only covers emergency responders like police and fire costs. It would take what's called a major declaration to help with the rest, and some lawmakers fear that's not going to happen.

"We have real concerns when we hear FEMA hasn't found enough individual property damage to justify the additional help that these folks truly need," said Representative Chuck Hoskin.

State lawmakers from some of the hardest hit Oklahoma counties say they're flooded with calls from residents asking for help. Many have been dealing with the storm's impact for three weeks now. And several homeowners, still without power, had falling tree limbs tear down their electric meters.

"Now they're in the situation where they have to pay to have an electrician come out and re-install the meter base, and get all the wiring connected before the utility companies can even come out and begin the process of hooking them up,â€ Hoskins said. â€œWe're talking about individuals who simply cannot afford this."

And he says most don't have insurance to cover it.

Legislators say they were led to believe a decision whether to declare a major disaster would be made last Monday.

"Here we are a week later and we still don't have any additional information," said Representative Ed Cannaday.

"I just don't think FEMA fully understands the magnitude, I don't think generally a lot of the people in Oklahoma understand the magnitude of the damage we experienced," Representative Terry Harrison.

Harrison says several cities have already spent a major portion of their budget on clean up, and now don't know if they'll be reimbursed.

The city of McAlester alone has 8,000 tons of debris to remove.

"Even though the ice has melted and a lot of the emergency management people have left and gone to their homes, there's a lot of work left to do," said Harrison.

A major declaration would have to be made on a county by county basis. FEMA officials say they're still collecting damage reports, and that Governor Henry's request for public and individual assistance is being evaluated in Washington.

At least three other states currently have requests in for FEMA aid due to recent storms, and they're no telling when a decision will be made.