As tornado recovery costs rise, FEMA pays more, Alabama and local governments pay less

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- In the 18 months since dozens of tornadoes wreaked havoc across Alabama, the cost for recovery has steadily risen.

Bad?

No good! At least from the perspective of cash-strapped state and local governments who are getting a $27 million federal reimbursement.

That's five Nick Saban salaries.

And the money comes strictly due to those rising recovery costs.

Here's how it works: When the cost of the disaster rises to a certain threshold, it triggers the Federal Emergency Management Agency to chip in with a larger share of federal dollars.

FEMA generally pays 75 percent of disaster recovery costs. But using a formula based on the census, if a disaster surpasses a per capita dollar amount, FEMA's share increases to 90 percent.

The magic number for the April, 2011 tornadoes in Alabama was $130 per person or, $564.7 million, which was surpassed several weeks ago.

For the city of Tuscaloosa, it means an extra $825,000.

Total costs for Tuscaloosa are about $11 million, said Robin Edgeworth, director of the city's Recovery Operations Department.

Under the old formula, FEMA paid 75 percent and the city and state split the remaining 25 percent. That 12.5 percent share meant a city tab of $1,375,000.

With FEMA taking on 90 percent of the cost, Tuscaloosa, splitting the remaining 10 percent with the state, is only on the hook for 5 percent, or $550,000.

"This is great news for us and the state," Edgeworth said. "It might seem strange that we got to this point by having so much damage. But I'm glad all of the municipalities were able to document it and that we were able to reach the cost threshold."

Overall, some 300 governmental entities are saving a combined $17 million. These include not only city and county governments, but school boards, some utility districts, etc. The state government is saving about $10 million to put the overall state savings at $27 million, said Yasamie August, spokeswoman for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, which coordinates with FEMA.

Madison County, the city of Huntsville, and several smaller entities are looking at a savings of $435,000 combined, said Bill Sizemore, accountant for the Madison County Emergency Management Agency.

Sizemore said it will actually be a reimbursement.

"All the money we were going to spend has essentially already been spent," Sizemore said.

Having surpassed the threshold of $564.7 million, overall recovery costs for the state now stands at $579.3 million paid through such programs as Public Assistance, Individual Assistance, Mitigation and Mission Assignments, August said.

Regarding the increased federal share, a spokeswoman for Gov. Robert Bentley released this statement:

"The damage to Alabama in the wake of the April 2011 tornadoes was extensive. We knew then that we would probably meet the damage assessment threshold. This is the next step in helping Alabama and local municipalities with the financial resources to recover from the tornadoes."

Of course the increased share by the federal government under the cost-sharing plan isn't free money.

As noted in a review of the policy by Francis X. McCarthy, a congressional emergency management policy analyst:

"Cost-share waivers can be a great help to a state and its communities seeking to recover from a disaster event and reeling from the economic problems caused by the disaster. But such actions also reduce the supplemental nature of Stafford Act funding through the increase of the federal share."

In other tornado funding news, Bentley this morning announced that $15.7 million will be awarded to nine local governments for long-term recovery. The governments splitting the money, from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, are: Cordova, DeKalb County, Franklin County, Hackleburg, Marion County, Moulton, Phil Campbell, Tuscaloosa City and Tuscaloosa County.

More than 250 people were killed, and 2,200 people were injured during a two-week period in April 2011 when the state was struck by multiple tornadoes. The majority of the damage and deaths came on April 27, when 62 tornadoes raked the state from south to north. According to FEMA, 6,237 houses and 1,275 mobile homes were destroyed.

Source: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2012/12/as_tornado_recovery_costs_rise.html

hunger games box office xavier joan crawford joan crawford john goodman kendall marshall whitney houston news