By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said Kansas will likely not receive Federal Emergency Management assistance to deal with the aftermath of high winds and fires that ravaged the state Wednesday.
He said because Kansas is largely rural, it usually does not meet the loss threshold to receive FEMA assistance. Even if it did, those funds would be dedicated to repairing public structures and utilities and not private property.
Moran toured parts of Russell County from the ground Friday and flew out of Hays Regional Airport in a Kansas Highway Patrol plane to view damage by air.
"While you can get the magnitude of the problem was here and how many miles are damaged and how much of Kansas is harmed," he said, "when you are on the ground with people who lost their house, their barn, their cattle, then you get the emotion and personal aspect of this terrible circumstance."
He said although the magnitude of the fires are huge, so has been the response of fellow Kansans.
He visited the Methodist church in Russell, which is packed with food and other items for victims of the fires.
"I asked the minister if they were going to have church in the Methodist Church on Sunday. All the pews are full," Moran said. "Someone asked him if he was going to change his sermon as a result of the fires.
"'My sermon was about fill these pews with love.' You look today and see what's sitting in the pews, which is a lot of sacks and bags and boxes. I think the pastor said he had a pretty good sermon in the making."
Moran said he is concerned about ranchers and their mental health. Moran was involved with legislation that directed more funds to mental health services for farmers and ranchers. The Kansas Department of Agriculture manages that program.
"We ought to be encouraging our neighbors and friends and farmers and ranchers to take advantage of that or other services that are in the community," he said.
High Plains Mental Health covers 20 counties in northwest Kansas. Their main office in Hays can be reached at 785-628-2871. Their 24/7 crisis line is 1-800-432-0333
Truck after truck is bringing hay and grain into the area to feed the livestock that survived the fire. The Kansas Livestock Association is also accepting monetary donations to help affected farmers in the region.
USDA programs may be able to help
Help should be coming in the form of aid from the United States Department of Agriculture and Farm Services Agency.
Moran said CRP land could be released for grazing and haying in response to the fires. Ellis County and the surrounding counties were not on the FSA list on its website of those counties released for emergency use as of Friday.
Federal programs can help with restoring land, as well as replacing fencing, Moran said.
State Rep. Barb Wasinger, R-Hays, said the state has passed legislation that allows property taxes to be abated in cases of disaster. The Kansas Insurance Commissioner is also in process of setting up a special hotline to answer disaster victims' questions about insurance claims.
State Rep. Ken Rahjes, R-Agra, said he was concerned federal money might be slow getting to farmers because a state FSA director for Kansas has not been named. New directors are named when a new administration takes office.
Although directors have been made in other states, the director in Kansas has not, Rahjes siad.
Some USDA, including the office in Trego County, are not open for in-person services due to COVID, which also concerned Moran.
Trego County reports 5,000 acres, 4 homes burned<br>
Trego County Emergency Manager Kathleen Fabrizius said four homes and about 5,000 acres burned in the county during the recent fires.
"We're lucky that it was only four," she said.
Neighbors saved a women in a wheelchair and her husband from their home. The couple received burns, but made in out of the house. They lost everything.
A fire that started in Trego County came within two and a half miles of Ellis, forcing a temporary evacuation. Fabrizius said homes in Ellis were likely saved thanks to farmers who help disc land to create a fire break ahead of the fire.
Farmers lost livestock, hay bales as well as green wheat because of the fires, many if which were caused by power lines downed in the wind.
Fabrizius said the fires were largely fought with volunteer firefighters. Since the fires were so widespread, area agencies could not send help.
"We're stretched to the limit," she said. "Nobody's coming to relieve us, and they still haven't relieved us in three days."
She added, "I'm sending guys home for two hours and saying take a shower and lay down for a nap and then I need you back out here."
Even Friday, Trego County responded to 12 calls.