Saturday, September 23, 2000 | ||||||||
Area storm damage not enough for aid By TOM VAUGHT Herald Staff Writer
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
MANATEE - It appears Hurricane Gordon did not damage the county enough to trigger federal help. Anna Maria Island's three cities and the town of Longboat Key sent in damage estimates to the state emergency management agency, which reports to FEMA, but the estimates were too low. Jim Loftus, public information officer for the state agency, said Manatee County reported $1,034,482 and Sarasota County $3,840,000 worth of expenses stemming from the storm. "These are damages incurred from cities preparing for the storm, cleaning up after the storm and damage to infrastructure," Loftus said. "We know these numbers won't trigger an emergency declaration from the president." The emergency declaration would have opened the gates to FEMA funds to reimburse the cities for everything from road and utility damages to overtime for city employees who worked over the weekend and gasoline for city trucks and equipment. "If the damage were on the scope of $6 million or we had 100 uninsured homes damaged, it might qualify," Loftus said. Statewide, Gordon cost governments $8 million, he said. The cities that turned in damage reports will have to pay the expenses on their own. "The $1,034,482 did not include beach erosion in Bradenton Beach or Holmes Beach," said Manatee County emergency director Laurie Feagans. "The damages don't look high enough, but we're still getting estimates." The city of Anna Maria estimate was $36,000, excluding overtime or materials, according to public works director Anne Beck. Beck and public works supervisor Bud Bailey worked through the weekend, as did Mayor Gary Deffenbaugh and Vice Mayor Doug Wolfe, who did not get paid. Bradenton Beach's expenses were $10,000, according to police Lt. John Cosby, the city's liaison to the Island Emergency Operations Center. The city of Holmes Beach claimed $78,130 for labor, equipment, drain damage and sandbags, according to public works supervisor Joe Duennes. "The storm drains were the largest category of the claims," Duennes said. "Every time we get a large storm, we get sinkholes around where the drainpipes leak or break away from seawalls." Duennes said they had serious beach erosion, especially at 31st Street and 52nd Street, behind the Martinique apartments. "The beach erosion is our biggest concern," he said. "If we have another storm, we'll have problems." Longboat Key reported damages of $2,022,500 with $1,171,000 on the Sarasota County side, $844,000 on the Manatee County side and $7,500 in both counties. Longboat Key's largest loss was at the beaches. The report estimated that 40,400 cubic yards of sand will need to be replaced in Manatee County and 100,500 cubic yards will need to be replaced in Sarasota County. The total erosion cost was estimated at $1.5 million. "We lost a lot of beach from the storm," said Bruce St. Denis, Longboat Key town manager. The island communities depend on reimbursement from FEMA following a storm. If the president declares the loss a disaster, FEMA pays. If not, the cities pay.
Tom Vaught, island reporter, can be reached at 745-7095 or at tvaught@bradentonherald.com
| ||||||||
All content © 2000 Bradenton.com and may notbe republished without permission. Bradenton.com is a service of the Bradenton Herald in cooperation withfeedback toBradenton.com. |