FEMA denies disaster declaration for Missouri, Illinois

Missouri counties hit by strong storms last month will not receive federal help as they try to recover and rebuild.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon requested a federal disaster declaration for 18 Missouri counties, including Cape Girardeau, Scott, Stoddard and Bollinger, last week.

A similar request for assistance from five Southern Illinois counties -- Gallatin, Randolph, Saline, Union and Williamson -- was also denied, a FEMA spokeswoman said Monday.

The declaration would have made residents and governments in those counties eligible to apply for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Now these areas, including Harrisburg, Ill., where seven people died, will have to rebuild without government help. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced he intends to appeal FEMA's decision.

In Missouri, three deaths as well as numerous injuries were attributed to the storms. One of the three deaths was in Puxico, in Stoddard County. Several homes in northern Cape Girardeau County and Bollinger County were damaged from two confirmed tornadoes. The campus of the Oak Ridge School District was also damaged in the Feb. 28-29 storms.

"I went to southern Missouri and saw the serious property damage to homes and businesses, and the places where Missourians lost their lives. While this decision is disappointing, we'll continue at the state level to provide the critical resources, assets and personnel that are necessary to help these affected communities recover and rebuild," said Nixon, who toured Oak Ridge following those storms.

On Friday, Missouri's congressional delegation sent letters to President Barack Obama urging him to promptly respond to Nixon's request.

"I'm very disappointed that the administration doesn't see the same needs that I've witnessed in the aftermath of the storms," U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson of Cape Girardeau said in a statement. "I'm hopeful that the state will appeal this decision -- an appeal that would have my full support."

However, Nixon does not intend to appeal FEMA's decision. An appeal would delay other possible federal assistance, said Nixon's press secretary, Scott Holste.

Cape Girardeau County Emergency Management director Richard Knaup said he isn't surprised Cape Girardeau County didn't receive a declaration because fewer than two dozen homes here were affected.

"I kind of anticipated Cape County, but it surprises me that Stoddard and the other counties in the state of Missouri and Illinois were not taken," he said.

One of the factors that likely weighed into FEMA's decision was the number of storm victims who had insurance, Knaup said.

"We had very few people who were uninsured," he said, adding that doesn't lesson the effect on those who sustained damage. "If your home, is damaged, you're hurt."

Illinois State Treasurer Dan Rutherford's office released a statement Monday saying that his office offers low-interest disaster recovery loans that may be useful to some tornado victims, but those are not going to be enough to help those who suffered damage.

In 2011, Illinois received two disaster declarations, one in March after a snowstorm and another after flooding in June.

Last year, Missouri received disaster declarations for three separate weather-related events in various counties. In March, snowstorms resulted in a disaster declaration for more than 60 counties. In May, 25 counties received federal assistance after storms, tornadoes and flooding in the southern half of the state. In August, six northeast Missouri counties were declared disaster areas after flooding along the Missouri River.

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