02/15/2006: "Windstorm Creates Emergency? CC Says Yes"

Brendan Cowan, Director of SJC Emergency Management, submitted a draft Resolution to the CC on Tuesday, that declare a state of emergency within SJ County. According to the Resolution, the emergency resulted from "especially strong windstorms…combined with a high tide and a storm surge to inundate many low-lying coastal areas in the County, and toppled trees throughout the County".

As a result of the storm damage, the Council decided the "resources of SJ County will not be sufficient to meet the requirements of the situation; and may require Statutory emergency powers.."

In other words, there is Federal and State money out there that the County may be able to obtain, if the County can convince the holders of the purse strings that San Juan County is in need of financial assistance.

Director Cowan anticipated that such an action by the Council might cause some questions to be raised by the public as they look around the county for some signs of a emergency, and so has produced a Q & A that addresses some of the most obvious questions that may be asked as a result of the Council action.

The questions and answers follow:

On February 14th, 2006 the County Council for San Juan County issued an emergency declaration for the windstorms that hit the islands between January 27th and February 4th.

Below are some common questions and answers about the storms, the declaration process and what it means for the County:

Q: The storms caused some damage, but they were hardly catastrophic. Why the emergency declaration?

A: If public agencies (government, junior taxing districts, schools, or non-profit utilities like OPALCO) suffer damage or incur expenses exceeding a set limit (set by FEMA) during a storm or other natural "disaster", the County is able to submit those expenses to the State for review and possible forwarding to FEMA. In order to start the process, an emergency declaration is necessary.

Q: OK, but what is that limit, and how did we exceed it?

A: The limit is based on the rate of $2.94 per County resident. So, for San Juan County in 2006, the limit is $41,500. Early estimates from County Public Works indicate that the cost of clearing driftwood from and repairing damage to Crescent Beach Road, E.J. Young Road and the Westsound Seawall on Orcas, and White Point Road on San Juan Island will likely exceed that limit (with the Westsound Seawall causing the bulk of the estimated costs).

Q: What does the emergency declaration actually do?

A: In this case it is just a formality. In a larger disaster, it would formally request state assistance, and would authorize local government to bypass some of the everyday processes of government in order to ensure a rapid and effective response.

Q: Does this declaration provide any benefits for private citizens or businesses?

A: Not at this time. In general the cut-off for individual assistance is that the County must have 25 or more homes that are at least 40% damaged. In addition, those 25 homes must be primary residences (not guest houses, rental units, or vacation homes), and the damage must be uninsured. Even then help is far from comprehensive- usually maxing out at $5,400 per residence. For businesses, the reality is that there is relatively little direct financial help from the Federal government in any situation. In short, there isn't a whole lot out there to directly assist private citizens following a disaster (though there are lots of auxiliary support services). There's a little bit of flexibility with this, but not a lot. The moral of the story is to have a good insurance policy (including earthquake coverage) and if you live in a flood plain, to participate in the National Flood Insurance Program (www.floodsmart.gov).

Disaster relief is a political process and in catastrophic events (like Katrina), the climate changes, and there tends to be more help out there.

Q: So does making this Declaration guarantee financial assistance to the County from FEMA?

A: No, this is just the start of the process. If there is enough damage state-wide to warrant it, the State will forward to FEMA. FEMA will send out inspectors, and in the end they may decide to help with the cost of rebuilding. In general the Federal government pays 75%, and the remaining 25% is split down the middle by the State and the Local governments. This declaration is just the first step.