(Feb. 9, 2010 – 4:21 p.m.) Mayor Al Krieger signed a Disaster Declaration Proclamation recently for damage done during the recent winter storms.
A Disaster Declaration is the required first step the City must take to recoup any of the money spent on the clean-up efforts because of the storms that occurred during the week of Jan. 18, 2010.
City Officials did not declare an emergency during the storm as the City's departments that dealt with the threats, damages, and emergency response were not overwhelmed. However, the costs involved for the storm cleanup are another matter. Especially when considering that any additional expenses incurred by the City, in the current economic situation, will have a serious impact on already limited resources.
The disaster declaration was the necessary first step in opening the way for state and federal assistance/reimbursement for expenses to come back to the City.
Conservative estimates put the City's costs for damages and response to the storm in excess of $200,000, which includes personnel costs for the 50+ employees that worked 'round the clock during the storm in addition to the Police and Fire personnel normally scheduled during that time frame. Yuma received nearly 2 1/2 inches of rain during the storms, according to Accuweather, with nearly 2 inches coming on Thursday alone.
"We were pumping water out of neighborhoods and retention basins as those basins filled up after that wetter-than-normal weather,” said Joel Olea, the Director of Field Operations for the Public Works Department. “The good thing is that our system worked for the most part. The water moved from the streets and neighborhoods into the basins that we've constructed over the last few years. There were a lot of man hours involved keeping water out of the neighborhoods and residents' houses. Now we have a lot of work to do to repair the damage done to our streets because of the excess water and mud from the agricultural areas."
Mayor Al Krieger stated, "In these tougher than normal economic times, we need to recoup as many of our expenses as we can. Declaring a disaster, even after the fact, is the first step in the process that will help us get some of those hard earned dollars back to our community. I'm extremely proud of our professional City employees. They were out there working, all night long, when I'm sure they'd have rather been home with their families. I can't thank them enough for working above and beyond the call of duty to keep our community safe.”
It may be several weeks, or even months, before the City finds out about any reimbursements. The cost information must be calculated, and tabulated, and then sent up to the State for processing.
(Source: City of Yuma)