$1.6 million in federal FEMA funds headed to Lane County

Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick, Register-Guard
·2 min read

Last week, Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced more than $66.2 million in funding would be allocated to Oregon from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

These funds are meant to help Oregon agencies and departments financially recover from emergency response efforts related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Labor Day fires.

Lane County Emergency Management will receive $1,633,199 from the FEMA funds, which will be used to reimburse the county for the costs of setting up and maintaining non-congregate shelters for the unhoused during the pandemic, according county spokesperson Jason Davis.

“This federal funding will help ensure these departments and agencies aren’t hamstrung by the extraordinary costs of past events so they can focus on the present and the future and keeping our communities and neighborhoods safe and healthy," Merkley said in a release.

The money is meant to ensure communities are ready to respond when the next emergency strikes, he added.

“The one-two punch of destructive wildfires and an unprecedented public health crisis landed hard on Oregon,” Wyden said. “These vital federal resources will help our state rebound by allowing financial recovery from the devastating costs of responding to those life-and-death threats, ensuring Oregon can continue protecting families and small businesses.”

Other funding headed to the state:

  • $35,437,600 to the Oregon Department of Human Services for alternate care sites medical care relating to emergency response and protective measures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • $26,304,100 to the Oregon Department of Human Services for temporary and expanded medical facilities relating to emergency response and protective measures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • $2,848,887.22 to the Oregon Department of Forestry for emergency protective measures as a result of wildfires and straight-line winds. These funds are intended to take care of costs relating to the emergency response, fire suppression activities, dispatching resources as necessary to the affected areas, and maintaining a presence until the fire in Lake County was fully contained.

Contact reporter Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick at Tatiana@registerguard.com or 541-521-7512, and follow her on Twitter @TatianaSophiaPT.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: $1.6 million of federal funds to reimburse Lane County for shelters