By D.E. Smoot
Phoenix Staff Writer
May 15, 2008 09:51 pm
—
Of the more than $145 million in disaster aid administered across the state last year, more than $10.8 million was administered in Muskogee County.
Emergency managers across the state administered more than $145 million in disaster aid during 2007, an unprecedented year in which nine federal disaster declarations were issued.
An Oklahoma Emergency Management report published this week shows more than $10.8 million of that aid was administered by emergency managers in Muskogee County, which to date has received more federal aid than any other county in Oklahoma.
Of that amount, 75 percent, or $8.1 million, of the aid was provided by federal agencies, and 12.5 percent, $1.35 million, came from the State Emergency Fund. Local and county governments footed the bill for the remaining $1.35 million of the allowable grant.
While Muskogee County’s status as the No. 1 recipient of disaster aid in 2007 likely will change — an estimated $50 million in aid available for the December ice storm has yet to be administered for damage caused by the December ice storm — officials said the amount of aid received locally stands as a testament to the work of local emergency managers who helped document the damage.
OEM Director Albert Ashwood said the natural disasters Oklahoma experienced during 2007 — ice storms, flooding and tornadoes — earned the state the distinction of having more disasters per capita than any other state this past year. Oklahoma’s nine federally declared disasters during 2007 ranked the state fourth in the number of declarations issued in one year when compared with population figures.
“Of course, such dubious honors also mean most of our time is spent responding to and recovering from disasters,” Ashwood states in the report. “While some states only exercise their response and recovery plans, in Oklahoma the drill is all too often replaced with a real emergency.”
Muskogee County Commissioner Gene Wallace, District 1, said the amount of county’s allowable grant for disaster can be attributed to several factors. Among those are:
• The number of disasters experienced.
• The size of its inventory of public roads and county bridges.
• The volume of debris left behind from the ice storm and subsequent flooding.
Wallace also credited the county’s emergency management team, led by Director Eugene Blankenship.
“We have a very aggressive emergency management office that does a tremendous job of keeping us up to date on what assistance is available,” Wallace said. “When you have been through as many of these (disasters) as we have, you get pretty familiar with what needs to be done.”
Wallace said not all of the aid administered has been received. Funds are allocated as they are appropriated, and there can be some lag time before funds are received at the local level.
“We still have work to do on the January 2007 ice storm,” Wallace said, citing ongoing efforts to clear debris from area creeks and streams.
While those efforts to recover from the 2007 natural disasters, more recent severe weather events have prompted new declarations for federal aid. Three federal disaster declarations have been issued this year for parts of Oklahoma.
The first two declarations, which authorize public assistance for infrastructural damage, were issued earlier this month for flood and storm damage sustained March 17-23 and April 9-28.
Adair, Haskell, McIntosh, Muskogee and Sequoyah counties are included in the first two declarations. Wagoner County is included in the second.
The third declaration, which authorizes only individual assistance, was issued Tuesday in response to Saturday’s tornado damage in Ottawa County.
Reach D.E. Smoot at 684-2903 or dsmoot@muskogeephoenix.com.
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