CLEARFIELD – Clearfield County met its threshold for public assistance, and municipalities will get help recouping expenses due to flood damage that occurred June 27 in Sandy Township, DuBois City and the surrounding areas, reported Joe Bigar, emergency management director, at Tuesday’s commissioner’s meeting.
The president, he said, signed a disaster declaration due to the flood damage. As a result, he said municipalities became eligible for public assistance to recoup funds expended to repair the flood damage. After he’s briefed by federal and state Emergency Management Agency officials, he’ll conduct a stakeholders/applicants briefing in the DuBois area.
According to him, municipalities, municipal authorities, school districts, volunteer fire departments, etc. are eligible for the public assistance. However, he said they must have at least $1,000 worth of flood damage. Because the county met its threshold, municipal representatives can still attend even if they initially didn’t report damages.
Bigar said if in doubt, municipal representatives should attend his briefing to be announced at a later date. He said they will be able to excuse themselves from the briefing if they are not eligible for public assistance. Bigar emphasized that this public assistance will be for municipalities only and not for property owners.
Clearfield County’s application for individual public assistance was rejected, he said. He said although the flood damage was bad, the county didn’t meet the threshold for public assistance for individuals. He said U.S. Small Business Administration disaster loans were available after the flooding, but that window has since closed.
