Ohio is seeking federal assistance after severe storms, flooding and tornadoes clobbered several parts of the state, including Greater Cincinnati, this summer.
Gov. Mike DeWine announced in a Sept. 2 news release that he sent a letter to President Donald Trump to request Major Disaster Declaration for the following Ohio counties:
- Adams.
- Athens.
- Brown.
- Butler.
- Champaign.
- Clark.
- Clermont.
- Darke.
- Fairfield.
- Franklin.
- Greece.
- Hamilton.
- Highland.
- Licking.
- Logan.
- Madison.
- Morgan.
- Muskingum.
- Perry.
- Preble.
- Richland.
- Shelby.
- Washington.
Preliminary damage assessments by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Small Business Administration found that at least 50 homes and business were destroyed, 806 sustained major damage and 475 sustained minor damage, according to the release.
The letter requests
an activation of FEMA’s Individual Assistance Grant Program, which includes grants for temporary housing and home repairs, rental assistance, replacement of personal property, crisis counseling, disaster unemployment assistance and disaster legal services.
The letter also requests assistance from the Small Business Administration to offer low-interest loans to cover certain uninsured property losses and asks for the activation of FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to help reduce future disaster losses.
“Federal assistance will be critical in helping the Ohioans impacted by last month's severe weather recover and move forward with their lives," DeWine said in the release. "These storms resulted in a disaster of such severity and magnitude that it exceeds the capabilities of the State of Ohio, local governments, and disaster relief organizations to provide comprehensive support."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio governor requests federal assistance after summer storms, flooding
