FEMA chief wants ‘timely support’ for Indiana storm-damage recovery

CARMEL, Ind. — The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s leader said Monday that its staff would work to expedite financial assistance to communities around Indiana recovering from recent severe storms and flooding.

FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton joined Gov. Mike Braun in touring some of the hardest-hit locations in the state after a federal major disaster declaration was approved last week for 21 counties.

Hamilton and other federal and state officials viewed a four-lane bridge in Carmel that was destroyed by White River floodwaters before traveling to Gary and Connersville to inspect damage in those areas.

Hamilton told reporters in Carmel that his goal was to understand the magnitude of the state’s damage and make sure sufficient assistance is provided.

“Really, it’s an orientation for me to see the extent of the damage and to also understand unique characteristics,” he said.

Braun has requested federal disaster aid for 54 counties, with more than 30 counties still awaiting a decision on whether they will be deemed eligible.

Braun said Monday that work continued on compiling information about damage in those counties so “we can get aid from FEMA where it’s warranted.”

FEMA staffers will use a pilot program through which federal aid for some Indiana repair projects can be distributed based upon cost estimates rather than later reimbursements for actual costs, Hamilton said.

“This isn’t going to be a blanket, ‘every single project will qualify.’ We’re going to look at every project as they sit,” Hamilton said. “Our goal is to ensure that we are not the limiting factor in that framework, so that we can provide the state with the reinforcement and support that they qualify for.”

State aid payments near distribution

The storms that began Aug. 11 caused severe flooding in many communities in central and eastern Indiana and pushed the White River to record-high levels as it flowed into Indianapolis.

Indiana seeking federal storm assistance at time when Trump wants to scale it back

The storms resulted in widespread wind damage in northwest Indiana, including more than 350,000 power outages in the area. Several thousand homes remained without electricity in Gary and nearby communities for more than 10 days.

The Indiana Department of Homeland Security is expected to start distributing emergency aid grants this week to residents with losses from the storms, agency Executive Director Jonathan Whitham told the Capital Chronicle.

Agency staffers were reviewing about 30,000 applications for State Disaster Relief Fund grants to determine whether the residents qualify for the grants of up to $5,000, Whitham said.

Those grants can cover expenses such as food, clothing and other basics to those displaced from their homes.

The potential cost of those grants far exceed the $5.5 million in the disaster fund as of Monday, according to the state’s transparency portal.

Whitham said it was uncertain how much state assistance would ultimately be distributed but that he had been assured the State Budget Agency would transfer additional money into the fund to provide the grants.

FEMA leader wants quick action

The state’s initial estimates put residential property damage from the storms at roughly $550 million to more than $5 billion across at least 22,164 parcels, according to Braun’s request to federal officials.

The state Department of Homeland Security has opened mobile assistance application sites in Lake County, along with others in Anderson, Connersville, Laurel and Noblesville.

Hamilton, the FEMA administrator, said he wanted to see assistance decisions come quickly.

“While I’m here on the ground, my focus is to ensure that we provide timely support,” he said. “We want to ensure that states get funding quickly so that recovery efforts can improve. Generally speaking, the longer these disasters take, the more significant you find an escalation of cost. Every 12 months, you have an escalation of 10 to 50 percent of recovery cost.”