State’s storm-damage costs at $6.5 million and climbing

LITTLE ROCK — Preliminary damage estimates have reached $6.5 million from the 10 cities and counties that have declared disasters after the Christmas storm that blanketed parts of the state in more than a foot of snow and ice.

Arkansas Department of Emergency Management officials said most municipalities and counties have not yet submitted cost estimates for the damage and extra staffing needs to deal with the storm’s aftermath, so those costs are expected to grow substantially.

Officials in Little Rock, one of three areas in the state affected most by power failures and downed trees — along with Malvern in Hot Spring County and Garland County — estimated their city’s damage costs at $3.3 million on Wednesday.

Pulaski County emergency management personnel said Federal Emergency Management Agency representatives will be touring Little Rock and elsewhere in the county today and Garland County and other areas Friday.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Faulkner, Garland, Hot Spring, Lonoke and Saline counties and North Little Rock had submitted written disaster declarations.

Matt Burks, Little Rock’s emergency management administrator, said the city had made a verbal disaster declaration and was finishing its written declaration for submission Wednesday.

Greene, Hempstead and Pulaski counties have also made verbal disaster declarations, said Yvette Smith, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.

“Right now, we have not received a comprehensive cost estimate from every county,” she said. “The number $6.5 million will likely change as officials are able to get out and really assess the damage and their needs. That number is very preliminary.”

So far, Little Rock has submitted the highest cost estimate for damage, along with employee overtime for plowing streets, removing trees, staffing warming centers and putting extra emergency personnel on the street.

“Part of the issue determining the actual cost is the amount of limbs and trees we have down all over the city that we will have to deal with,” said Ronny Loe, assistant director of the Little Rock Public Works Department.

“Overtime is really where our costs have been. We had people on 12-hour shifts until the roads were cleared. If we were doing this on a normal 8-hour workday and everyone was taking care of their regular duties, there would be minimal costs in equipment and fuel. But it would also take months for us to pick up all of the debris, which is probably not acceptable.”

He said the city will have to decide whether the best option is to hire a contractor to handle all the debris collection, pay overtime to employees to collect the debris on a faster schedule or to collect the debris without overtime over the course of two months or more.

Loe said the city, Pulaski County and Cammack Village spent more than $4 million in federal disaster aid cleaning up storm debris after the ice storm that hit in 2000. He said the city’s landfill took in more than 35,000 tons of storm debris from Little Rock alone after that storm.

The Christmas Day storm likely didn’t produce as much damage, Loe said, estimating that the amount of debris would be about half that.

“The snow has finally melted, and this weekend is supposed to warm up,” he said. “We’ll get a lot of people working out in their yards and taking debris and branches out to the curb, so we should get a better picture of the amount we’re looking at after this weekend.”

Burks said the governor’s office declared a disaster last week. Once formal written disaster declarations from cities and counties are submitted, FEMA representatives visit each area and assess whether the damage meets the requirements for federal assistance.

Burks, who has worked in emergency management for about a decade, said Little Rock should know in about two weeks whether its request is granted.

If the request is denied, Loe said cleanup money would have to come from the city’s operations budget. He said planned capital improvement projects funded by the sales-tax increase and the millage extension passed by Little Rock voters in September would not be affected, however, because that money is dedicated to capital projects only.

“We’ll look at our contingency funds and anywhere else we can,” Loe said. “We’re just hoping that the disaster request is approved.”

Meanwhile, other officials are still assessing how much damage has been done in their areas, along with gathering cost estimates for the cleanup.

Saline County Judge Lanny Fite said the county’s portion of the damage will likely top $500,000. When estimates from Benton, Bryant and other cities in the county are calculated, he said that number could grow to more than $1 million.

“I think that’s a really conservative number,” he said.

He said the county has opened two burning sites for storm debris — one at the Saline County Airport near Bryant and a second closer to Hot Springs Village.

In Garland County, Emergency Management Director Joy Sanders said staff members are still assessing the damage, but the estimate has already grown to more than $2 million for the county and its cities, including Hot Springs.

“That’s still very preliminary,” she said. “There’s still a lot of work to be done and a lot of areas with debris.”

Pulaski County emergency management officials said they are waiting for information from the county’s smaller cities and areas such as Wrightsville, Maumelle, Sherwood and Jacksonville.

Emergency Management Director Andy Traffanstedt said it may be Monday before workers have a solid estimate on the storm damage costs.

North Little Rock officials said staff members also are continuing to assess damage and costs in the city, and that it’s too early to tie a price tag to the city’s disaster declaration.

Little Rock waived the size restriction on debris that can be dragged to the curb for pickup but reminded residents that it may be a while before debris is collected.

Pulaski County officials have asked residents in unincorporated parts of the county to call (501) 340-6800 to request pickup of debris dragged to curbs or rights of way, but they also noted that it will take time.