But no money yet to finish repairing Tyndall AFB
A Panama City property with debris from Hurricane Michael, March 12, 2019
Significant amounts of federal recovery money are finally being awarded to areas of the Florida Panhandle hit hard by last October’s Hurricane Michael. A new expedited reimbursement program has kicked-in for the state and for local governments who are tapped-out from debris removal costs. But Congress still hasn’t awarded supplemental money to repair Tyndall Air Force Base, prompting Governor DeSantis to declare Michael “the most serious storm that almost nobody cares about outside of Florida.”
Last week the state received $9.8 million, the first debris removal reimbursement from FEMA. The money will reimburse the Florida Department of Transportation for debris cleanup in Jackson County.
Usually, FEMA and the state require applicants for these Public Assistance Program monies to first submit all supporting documentation. Under the Expedited Project process, applicants can simply submit a summary of costs and receive an initial 50% reimbursement. Together with the President’s approval in early March to reimburse Florida 100% of debris removal and emergency costs for the first 45 days after the storm – rather than the usual five days – Governor DeSantis said Florida taxpayers are saving $2.5 million in just this one case. FEMA says another $5.1 million is in the pipeline for five more expedited projects, with 73 others under consideration.
FDOT has removed more than 18 million cubic yards of debris to date in both State and local roadways located in the core eight counties impacted most by the Cat-4 storm. The state estimates Michael left 10 times the debris created by Hurricane Irma in 2017.
Meanwhile state officials are getting frustrated with Congress for its lack of action on needed supplemental funding to rebuild Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City. The base is just down the road from Mexico Beach (Michael’s ground zero) and suffered catastrophic damage, with all its facilities declared “unlivable”. More than 11,000 personnel and their families called the base home prior to the hurricane.
Congress has failed three times to pass needed repair and renovation funding of about $4.9 billion for Tyndall and Offutt Air Force base, ravaged by the recent Nebraska flooding. Air Force officials say if the money isn’t provided by May 1, they’ll have to halt repairs which will delay the return of full base operations.
“Without disaster supplemental funding, the Air Force will soon cut repairs to its airplanes across the country because Congress can’t get their act together and pass what everyone knows is necessary,” said Congressman Neal Dunn (R-Panama City), in a prepared statement.
Also last week, farmers in 11 counties became eligible to apply for emergency loans from the USDA’s Farm Service Agency. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue last week designated the counties as primary natural disaster areas, which frees up loans for replacing essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganizing farm operations, or refinancing certain debts. It’s part of a growing package of help for this area of Florida (and parts of neighboring Georgia and Alabama) that is mostly rural and whose economy, except for coastal tourism areas, is based largely on agricultural products, especially timber.
The USDA’s action triggered the federal Small Business Administration to make available Economic Injury Disaster Loans to all other agricultural interests not covered by the USDA program, as well as non-agricultural businesses and nonprofit organizations. Loans amounts up to $2 million are available with interest rates from 2.5% to 3.6% with terms up to 30 years.
LMA Newsletter of 4-1-19
