Alachua County to get FEMA help

Sept. 15--Alachua County has been added to the list of Florida counties set to receive Federal Emergency Management Agency aid following the destruction of Hurricane Irma.

County residents will join 45 other counties that qualify for an individual assistance declaration through FEMA, so that people who suffered property damage in the storm could be reimbursed as much as $33,000. Alachua County was added Thursday, along with several others including Bradford, Columbia, Gilchrist, Levy, Suwannee and Union.

County officials, along with Congressman Ted Yoho, R-Gainesville, and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., have been touring the region to assess damage, while also urging locals to tally their losses.

Since the storm passed through the area Monday, at least 270 county residents have reported claims on alachuarecovers.org. County Commission chairman Ken Cornell said those preliminary responses have been sent to Yoho's office and were being processed, but urges more people to do the same.

The aid coverage would include things like damaged roofs, appliances, carpets, vehicles and food.

"Some of our most vulnerable were impacted by this event," Cornell said. "It's really important that we get them as much help as we can through this program."

The county was already covered for emergency personnel, which includes first responders, and debris removal, but was left off the initially approved list Wednesday for counties that would receive FEMA benefits for individuals.

Nelson met with county officials Thursday and spoke about the area's need for the funding.

"Fortunately we're getting individual assistance in because many people don't have insurance on their home or they didn't have flood insurance and, as a result, they are going to need individual assistance and they got that now," Nelson said.

Nelson said he believes the entire state will ultimately be covered, since Hurricane Irma at one point engulfed all of Florida.

Yoho, who represents Alachua, Union and Bradford counties and most of Marion County, said he's extremely proud of the rapid response from local, state and federal agencies over the last few days, which led to getting Alachua added to the list.

The next step, according to his deputy chief of staff, Kat Cammack, is finding everyone that was affected by the storm and assessing the damage.

"Alachua County is very spread out and we're still waiting on a damage assessment of how exactly many homes have sustained flooding or damage," she said.

Yoho sent a letter Wednesday to FEMA's administrator, William Long, requesting that Alachua, Marion, Bradford and Union counties be added for individual claims, saying those counties were no less affected by Irma than the rest of the state.

In Bradford, he said, nearly 300 homes are underwater.

Alachua County's more rural regions, and some parts of Gainesville, experienced several feet of flood water and there are still some 16,000 homes without power.

Cornell said Alachua County Fire Rescue and sheriff's deputies had knocked on more than 400 doors as of Thursday, and helped evacuate at least 21 residents who couldn't get out on their own.

Areas north of North U.S. 441, he said, are still under a mandatory evacuation, including those living near creeks, rivers and lakes.

"Our biggest concern has been loss of life or injury," Cornell said. "We know we can replace stuff and property, but lives have been what we've been focusing on."

The county, which saw an influx of thousands of South Florida evacuees, has also had a widespread gas shortage.

Wednesday, sheriff's deputies escorted an oil tanker into Hawthorne off U.S. 301, which would have been an Interstate 75 detour had the highway been closed by flooding, a possibility until Thursday morning.

Yoho and some of his staffers arranged for sheriff's deputies to escort the Florida Rock and Tank Lines truck to come in to fill up a gas station for area residents. Sheriff Sadie Darnell said it is a recent, and creative trend started by Gov. Rick Scott, who she has called to thank for the idea.

"It's definitely a very effective way to get gasoline and utility trucks into the area," Darnell said.

County officials have also been in talks with Yoho's office to help supply food for other nearby counties. Medicine from out of state was collected, just in case.

"The neat thing is this is people coming together as Americans during a crisis situation," Yoho said.

Although thousands of area residents have power again, many have complained about lack of information about the return of cable and internet services.

Cox Communications, which provides internet and cable services to many area residents, estimated about 50 percent of Central Florida customers lost service. Since Irma, about 70 percent of those customers have had service restored, according to Cam Johnson, the company's public affairs manager.

In an email to the Sun on Thursday, Johnson said the company would not release specific numbers of locally affected residents, but said crews are working to restore connections.

Nelson, the senator, sent out a letter asking that service providers, including Cox, credit customers for their days without service. Johnson said customers will be handled on a case-by-case basis. If interested in having their bill reviewed, customers should contact the company, he said.

Darnell said although there are a multitude of issues yet to be fully addressed, she believes the county dodged much worse.

"I know a lot of people are under a great deal of stress and fatigue through this," she said. "They're definitely not being ignored. I just ask everybody to hang in there, be patient."

Those who want to make a FEMA claim are encouraged to report damages at alachuarecovers.org or disasterassistance.gov or call 1-800-621-3362.

Contact reporter Andrew Caplan at andrew.caplan@gvillesun.com or on Twitter @AACaplan.

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