FEMA could declare disaster, supply extra tornado aid any day now

* Author Email, Claremore Daily Progress, Okla.
·3 min read

Jun. 12—Claremore and Rogers County officials said Monday they expect the Federal Emergency Management Agency to declare the May 25 tornado a disaster in the next day or two.

Scotty Stokes, director of Rogers County Emergency Management, said a FEMA declaration would open up three types of aid for those affected by the tornado.

The two main types, Stokes said, would be public assistance to rebuild city and county infrastructure and individual assistance to help people repair their homes and pay for essentials such as food and fuel. He said a FEMA declaration would also let the Small Business Administration assist local business owners and farmers.

Claremore City Manager John Feary said individual assistance in particular was "badly needed."

"Folks out there in the Carefree Valley and the folks here in the city [of Claremore], they need some personal assistance, the things that [the city and county] can't do," Feary said at the Rogers County Commissioners' regular Monday meeting. "They got to start getting back on their feet."

Feary said he had spoken to Gov. Kevin Stitt's office and had heard Oklahoma's federal delegation was "leaning into FEMA" to get a declaration made.

Stokes said it's not guaranteed FEMA will provide both public and individual assistance because each piece requires each county in the disaster area to meet a threshold. For public assistance, the threshold is based on monetary damages. For individual assistance, aid partly depends on the amount of uninsured and underinsured homes affected by the disaster.

Stokes said Rogers County likely will receive public assistance and is "close" on getting individual assistance. He said the number of uninsured and underinsured homes only matters for meeting FEMA's threshold; people whose homes are insured could receive individual insurance if Rogers County qualifies.

FEMA officials conducted preliminary damage assessments in Rogers County the week after the tornado to determine if the county meets their threshold for aid.

"The FEMA process is a lot different than what Facebook makes it out to be," Stokes said. "People on Facebook, 'FEMA's not coming.' 'Oh yeah? They're already here!'"

In a Sunday video update, Feary said "anybody [in Claremore] that can have power has power," barring individual issues.

Anyone whose power is out should call (918) 283-8299.

Feary and District 2 Commissioner Steve Hendrix said they had spoken to "high-level representatives" from Cox Communications, including Vice President Roger Ramseyer, who told them Cox is doing "everything [it] can" to restore internet connection to Rogers County residents.

Feary said the city will continue to focus on removing debris and asked people to stack it by the roadside.

The city has contracted with Louisiana-based Del Sol Consulting for help finding vendors for the recovery effort, including picking up debris. Feary said that as of Monday morning, contracted crews had carted 3,123 loads off to the landfill. That doesn't include loads hauled by the city and county themselves.

He said people will see downed telephone power poles, transformers and wire strewn around the county for a couple of weeks. The city has to arrange for contractors to document and inspect them before they can be hauled off.

Feary thanked the county and particularly District 1 Commissioner Dan DeLozier, whose district in northeast Rogers County took the brunt of the tornado's wrath, for their help responding to the disaster. He said no one in Rogers County died thanks to the entire community upholding the "Oklahoma standard."

"We're weeks ahead of where anybody thought we would be, and we're just very fortunate for that," Feary said. "And we'll look forward to one heck of a bonfire when this thing's all said and done."