No FEMA relief for $6.2 million tornado damage bill for NAEC

NAEC crews build back lines following March 14 tornado outbreak

Changes this year in how the federal and state government provide relief from natural disasters has left a local energy coop with a large bill from spring storms.

North Arkansas Electric Cooperative (NAEC) has been denied assistance from FEMA and the state of Arkansas for a bill totaling $6.2 million from tornado damage in March of this year.

The storms that hit the area in Mid March caused damage not seen to the power system since the 2009 ice storm. Thousands of members where without power for days as crews faced over 100 broken power poles and areas hit so hard that the entire infrastructure needed to be rebuilt from scratch.

Traditionally FEMA has provided a 75 percent reimbursement for damage from storms to the coop with the state also providing assistance. In the weeks following the storms Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders submitted a request to President Donald Trump to issue a major disaster declaration. That request was declined by the President. Following an appeal the White House did approve FEMA assistance to individuals storm victims but not to local municipalities, electric cooperatives and nonprofits.

NAEC CEO Mel Coleman says that the coop can absorb the cost, but his concern is how this bodes for the future.

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Will NAEC members see an increase on their bills to cover the costs?

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Coleman, who sits on the board for the National Association of Rural Cooperatives, speaks on efforts to counter act and reinstate federal assistance programs.

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Local municipalities such as Cave City, which saw devastating damage from a tornado March 14, has also been denied federal assistance to rebuild their fire station and remove debris.

Earlier this year President Trump said he might eliminate FEMA, a goal shared by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Following July flooding in Texas, Noem said Trump wants FEMA reformed, not abolished. Gov. Sanders later endorsed the President’s plan, “I offered my full endorsement of his plans to reform FEMA to save money and provide greater direct assistance to disaster victims,” Sanders said in a press release. “I am also thankful for Secretary Kristi Noem who, as a former governor, understands how to support states as they rebuild from natural disasters.”

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