Denton, Texas, seeks disaster statusOfficials request aid after flooding causes $2 million in damage
By Monty Miller Jr.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
DENTON COUNTY, Texas — Denton County officials are asking for assistance from the state and federal government after heavy flooding caused at least $2 million in damage last week.
The county has applied to the state to be designated as a disaster area, which would mean the people and businesses affected could apply for relief funds, said emergency services assistant chief Roland Asebedo.
Officials are hoping that the state will combine requests from Eagle Pass, El Paso and other hard-hit areas and submit one application for federal assistance. The April 24 storms killed 10 people in the Eagle Pass border area. The Denton area received more than 5 inches of rain, most of which fell in a two-hour window on April 24.
"I'm in hopes that we will fall within the criteria so we'll be able to assist all these folks in Denton County," Mr. Asebedo said. "There are a lot of people and business owners that would be eligible for grants and low-interest loans if that [the designation] happened."
Under federal guidelines, total damage estimates would have to reach $25 million for the U.S. government to step in.
Denton County Judge Mary Horn said county officials hope to receive word from the state by early next week. A spokeswoman in the governor's Division of Emergency Management said that state officials are reviewing the request, but she would give no timetable.
"We're in the process of doing reviews on various weather disasters throughout the state," spokeswoman Mary Lenz said. "There is no hard-and-fast rule on what the timing of that is at all."
Ms. Horn said the storm caused the worst flooding she has ever seen in Denton.
"I've lived in Denton since 1969, and there was flooding in places I've never seen flooding before," she said. "The emergency operations center was immediately activated after it was evident that this wasn't your average storm."
Before city or county officials could apply for state or federal assistance, they first had to pass local disaster declarations, Denton Mayor Perry McNeill said. He declared the city a disaster area the morning after the floods and then wrote a letter urging Gov. Rick Perry to declare an emergency, he said.
Mr. McNeill's declaration says that the city suffered severe property damage and that "extraordinary measures" should be taken to address it.
About 100 Denton homes and businesses, two public schools and several city buildings suffered flood damage, said Quentin Brown, spokesman for the Denton Fire Department.
The city also reported damage to an ambulance, a police vehicle, an animal-control truck, a fire investigator car, several Denton Municipal Electric substations and multiple roads, bridges and drainage ways, Mr. Brown said.
Other area cities said they are still working with the county to evaluate the storm's impact on their residents.
Although water covered some roads and breached some homes, schools and businesses in other cities, none appears to have been hit as hard as Denton, said Kay Godbey, Argyle's interim town administrator.
Denton County was last declared a disaster area after a series of storms ravaged the county in June 2004.
To get a disaster area designation in Texas, the governor must ask the president for a Presidential Disaster Declaration. For less severe disasters, the governor can ask for a Small Business Administration Administrative Declaration.
A presidential declaration would make state and federal assistance programs available, while the SBA declaration would make only SBA loans available.
To be declared a disaster area by the president, an area must be assessed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which advises the president. The president makes the final decision.
By Monty Miller Jr.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
DENTON COUNTY, Texas — Denton County officials are asking for assistance from the state and federal government after heavy flooding caused at least $2 million in damage last week.
The county has applied to the state to be designated as a disaster area, which would mean the people and businesses affected could apply for relief funds, said emergency services assistant chief Roland Asebedo.
Officials are hoping that the state will combine requests from Eagle Pass, El Paso and other hard-hit areas and submit one application for federal assistance. The April 24 storms killed 10 people in the Eagle Pass border area. The Denton area received more than 5 inches of rain, most of which fell in a two-hour window on April 24.
"I'm in hopes that we will fall within the criteria so we'll be able to assist all these folks in Denton County," Mr. Asebedo said. "There are a lot of people and business owners that would be eligible for grants and low-interest loans if that [the designation] happened."
Under federal guidelines, total damage estimates would have to reach $25 million for the U.S. government to step in.
Denton County Judge Mary Horn said county officials hope to receive word from the state by early next week. A spokeswoman in the governor's Division of Emergency Management said that state officials are reviewing the request, but she would give no timetable.
"We're in the process of doing reviews on various weather disasters throughout the state," spokeswoman Mary Lenz said. "There is no hard-and-fast rule on what the timing of that is at all."
Ms. Horn said the storm caused the worst flooding she has ever seen in Denton.
"I've lived in Denton since 1969, and there was flooding in places I've never seen flooding before," she said. "The emergency operations center was immediately activated after it was evident that this wasn't your average storm."
Before city or county officials could apply for state or federal assistance, they first had to pass local disaster declarations, Denton Mayor Perry McNeill said. He declared the city a disaster area the morning after the floods and then wrote a letter urging Gov. Rick Perry to declare an emergency, he said.
Mr. McNeill's declaration says that the city suffered severe property damage and that "extraordinary measures" should be taken to address it.
About 100 Denton homes and businesses, two public schools and several city buildings suffered flood damage, said Quentin Brown, spokesman for the Denton Fire Department.
The city also reported damage to an ambulance, a police vehicle, an animal-control truck, a fire investigator car, several Denton Municipal Electric substations and multiple roads, bridges and drainage ways, Mr. Brown said.
Other area cities said they are still working with the county to evaluate the storm's impact on their residents.
Although water covered some roads and breached some homes, schools and businesses in other cities, none appears to have been hit as hard as Denton, said Kay Godbey, Argyle's interim town administrator.
Denton County was last declared a disaster area after a series of storms ravaged the county in June 2004.
To get a disaster area designation in Texas, the governor must ask the president for a Presidential Disaster Declaration. For less severe disasters, the governor can ask for a Small Business Administration Administrative Declaration.
A presidential declaration would make state and federal assistance programs available, while the SBA declaration would make only SBA loans available.
To be declared a disaster area by the president, an area must be assessed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which advises the president. The president makes the final decision.
