By AMY RICKER
Great Bend Post
GREAT BEND — With the arctic blast that the area experienced in February, Barton County experienced damages due to freezing temperatures, extreme wind chills and snow.
Emergency Management Director Amy Miller says the state knows that it will need to collect money for damages after a severe weather event. Sometimes, it takes a bit for counties to realize the full extent of damage done.
“I’m asking for you to declare a Proclamation of a State of Local Disaster Emergency for the period of Feb. 12 – Feb. 28, 2021. That covers response efforts and any recovery actions that happened due to the cold weather and the snow that we had for that event,” said Miller.
Commissioner Jennifer Schartz asked if there have been any funds available to help counties recover and repairs any damages.
“How disaster declarations work is the county must declare the disaster declaration, and we need to meet the dollar amount that the county must meet, which is $106,000. Then it goes to the state, and Kansas must show $4.4 million for them to able to trigger the mechanism to request a federal disaster declaration,” Miller said.
Miller says FEMA will not reimburse for the cost of operating expenses such as electricity and natural gas.
As a county, Miller said Barton is not out a lot of money due to the severe weather event.
The commissioners unanimously approved a Proclamation of a State of Local Disaster Emergency.