For more than a dozen counties in Northwest Arkansas, the deadline to apply for federal recovery assistance in the wake of the Dec. 5-6 winter storm is approaching.
Applications through the Federal Emergency Management Agency are due no later than Wednesday, said Arkansas Department of Emergency Management spokesman Tommy Jackson.
According to figures provided by Jackson, damage estimates in Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Madison, Marion, Newton, Polk, Scott, Searcy, Sebastian, Sharp and Van Buren counties total about $8.5 million.
Most of the damage was caused by fallen tree limbs and other debris on roadways. But some counties, especially Scott County, had widespread electrical failures. Power was out as long as six days for some residents.
“We have about 200 miles worth of debris, trees and limbs on the roads,” said Scott County Judge James Forbes.
Johnson County Judge Mike Jacobs said his county plans to forgo seeking assistance because there was not enough damage to warrant the state or federal government’s involvement.
“We had some damage, but nowhere near the threshold,” Jacobs said. “We had a few trees down, but nothing that put us in a difficult financial situation.Just one of those things that gives you heartburn, but nothing too bad.”
Several county judges in the affected areas said they were already well into the application process. The public-assistance funds pay public and eligible nonprofit entities for 75 percent of repair costs to roads and other critical infrastructure items in disaster areas. Private citizens are not eligible to apply for the public-assistance funds
The application deadline for Fulton County, which was not declared a federal disaster area until Jan. 6, is Feb. 21.
A public-assistance application packet can be found on the Emergency Management Department’s website at adem.arkansas.gov.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 01/30/2014