The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced last week that recent flash flooding and severe storms in Alexandria qualify the city as a disaster site. The presidential declaration opens a source of money for City Hall, and negotiations are set to begin this week to determine an exact dollar amount for the public assistance.
“It’s hard to say what they’ll cover,” said Charlie McRorie, emergency manager with the city of Alexandria. “Experience has shown that they are not going to pay for everything.”
The series of events making federal aid available began shortly after severe weather events began plaguing the city from June 23 to July 6. As early as June 28, Gov. Tim Kaine issued an executive order to declare a state of emergency in Virginia. On June 29, he requested a joint federal, state and local survey of damaged areas. On June 30, the governor sent a letter to President George W. Bush requesting that he declare a major disaster for Virginia — making public assistance available for the city government under provision of Section 401 of the Stafford Act.
“I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the commonwealth and the affected local governments and that supplementary federal assistance is necessary,” Kaine wrote in the June 30 letter. “I certify that for this major disaster, the state and local governments will assume all applicable non-federal share of costs required by the Stafford Act. Total expenditures to the Commonwealth are expected to exceed $3,219,264.”
FEMA MONEY will be allocated through the Robert Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, enacted by Congress in 1988 to support those who are overwhelmed by disaster. The law establishes a process beginning with a presidential disaster declaration, which was announced on July 14. The Stafford Act also defines the type and scope of assistance available from the federal government and sets conditions and standards. The response originates at FEMA, is administered through the commonwealth of Virginia and received at Alexandria’s City Hall. But the check hasn’t been cut yet.
Gov. Kaine’s June 30 letter includes a section titled “Estimated Requirements for Public Assistance.” It lists 10 localities, including a $370,000 request for Alexandria. City emergency managers say that the dollar amount should be much higher — with federal offsets for clearing debris, distributing sandbags and infrastructure repair. The city estimates the cost of clearing sediment alone at $3 million.
“It’s essentially dirt as well as other debris like tree branches and roots,” said Emergency Manager McRorie. “We have to show is that we kept the stream beds in good condition prior to the storm. That gets into interpretation.”
To be eligible for the FEMA money, the city government must provide documentation to show regular maintenance of the riverbeds at Cameron Run, Backlick Run and Holmes Run. The city is also seeking money for other damages, such as a $13,600 request to replace two police cruiser engines that were destroyed at the Avalon Bay Building in the Eisenhower Valley. The federal government could share 75 percent of costs incurred by the city government — ones that qualify under FEMA rules.
“It’s essentially a cost-sharing program,” McRorie said.
INTERPRETING FEMA RULES can be challenging, and disputes over money can linger for years. The federal agency that will be judging the city’s applications for funding will be Region 3 of FEMA, which is headquartered in Philadelphia. It has been authorized to allocate “public assistance,” which grants aid to public entities and certain nonprofit agencies that need repair or replacement of disaster-damaged public facilities. It has not been authorized to allocate any money for “individual assistance,” which would be given to individuals and households.
“We’re hoping that we will be able to take part in the individual assistance program,” said Del. David Englin (D-45). “Especially for my constituents in Huntington.”
The Huntington neighborhood of Fairfax County was the hardest hit area in the Virginia, with more than 300 homes damaged. Under the National Flood Insurance Program, this area is known as a “100-year floodplain.” But the timing stinks for Huntington residents, who experienced the flood of a lifetime.
“Despite its reputation (and statistics) as an affluent community, Fairfax County has a large geographic area and has many neighborhoods of working class residents such as the Huntington section,” Gov. Kaine wrote in the his June 30 letter. “County officials have evacuated residents and will not permit them to return to their homes at this time because of unsafe and unhealthy conditions caused by damages to electric utilities and contamination from sewage and floodwaters.”
Englin said that Alexandria residents should also be eligible for the individual assistance program from FEMA. He said that two of his neighbors in Del Ray had flooded basements, and they should be eligible for assistance from the federal government.
“We were not in a flood plain here, so there’s no flood insurance,” Englin said. “FEMA isn’t helping these people yet.”