Lincoln, Neb. — The major disaster declaration for the State of Nebraska has been amended to include 16 counties adversely affected by the event declared a major disaster by President Barack Obama in his declaration of June 25.
Damage assessments on the additional 16 counties were completed after the initial request was submitted. The newly added counties are: Adams, Arthur, Box Butte, Clay, Dawes, Fillmore, Hamilton, Hayes, Johnson, Nemaha, Pawnee, Richardson, Seward, Sioux, Wayne, and York.
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts received notification August 14 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that the additional counties had been added to the disaster declaration. The declaration was made following severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds and flooding from May 6 to June 17.
The president, through FEMA, originally issued the public assistance declaration that provided assistance for emergency work and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged facilities in the following counties: Cass, Dundy, Gage, Jefferson, Lancaster, Lincoln, Morrill, Nuckolls, Otoe, Saline, Saunders, and Thayer.
The declaration allows federal emergency funding to be used in providing assistance to state and local governmental agencies and some nonprofit organizations. It also includes federal funding on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures for all counties in the state.
“The 28 Nebraska counties affected by the severe weather and flooding of this disaster will be considered eligible applicants for federal assistance made available by this declaration, said Bryan Tuma, NEMA assistant director. “Local, state and federal representative are working together on the recovery process following storms that caused millions of dollars in damage in the state.”
Christian M. Van Alstyne was named the federal coordinating officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area and a Joint Field Office has been opened in Lincoln.
“The addition of these 16 counties affected by historic rain and flooding means we can move forward with our recovery efforts,” Tuma said. “There were severe impacts to roads and bridges throughout the counties.”
Eligible costs for recovery include removal of storm debris, emergency protective measures and repair or replacement of disaster damaged roads, bridges, public buildings, critical facilities, such as water, sewer and power systems, and other public facilities.
###