Holmes County prepared to be reimbursed should disaster strike
Major flooding is always a threat in Holmes County, and other natural disasters have caused major issues over the past many years. Holmes County EMA has been awarded a hazard mitigation grant of $25,500 from Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities that could pave the way for the county to secure reimbursement funds from either the state or FEMA should a future disaster occur.
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Nobody ever wants disaster to befall their home county, but it is always good to be prepared for the worst-case scenario should a natural disaster rear its ugly head.
Creating a reimbursement path through providing the necessary guidelines is something the Holmes County Emergency Management Agency team is shoring up.
Jason Troyer, Holmes County Emergency Management Agency director, said the department has recently been awarded a hazard mitigation grant of $25,500 from Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities.
The county’s hazard mitigation plan must be renewed every five years, and Troyer said while there is not technically any requirement from state EMA to have such a plan in place, it behooves the county to do so.
“If we should happen to experience a disaster and need FEMA reimbursement or funds, if we don’t have a hazard mitigation plan in place, we are not eligible to receive anything,” Troyer said.
Troyer said he and assistant Holmes EMA Director Jordan Tschiegg would be working on that plan for 2025. He said the new plan will include some new areas including communicable diseases, which weren’t relevant five years ago when the prior plan was created. He also said cybersecurity would be a big addition to the new plan.
Commissioner Dave Hall said BRIC is important for the county because he has seen counties in Southern Ohio that don’t have it in place and are currently having issues receiving funding from FEMA due to not having a hazard mitigation plan in place.
If a disaster would befall Holmes County, Troyer said several actions would be put into place.
“If we did have a disaster, first, we would declare it at the county level,” Troyer said. “Then the governor would declare (Holmes County) as a state of emergency. We would then apply for FEMA assistance. If we didn’t meet the criteria for that, it drops back down to the state, and we can get state assistance.”
He used the 2021 derecho as an example, noting Holmes County did not meet the required assistance level needed to qualify for FEMA funding, but there was enough destruction that the county did receive state funding reimbursement.
“For us to get the FEMA reimbursement, if we don’t have this hazard mitigation plan in place, we would automatically not be eligible for any type of FEMA reimbursement,” Troyer said.
He said the Holmes EMA duo would work quickly in creating the new hazard mitigation plan to get it in place as soon as possible.
