MORGAN -- The federal government's official verdict regarding Morgan County flooding this year is in, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has agreed to pitch in $98,000 to reimburse Morgan County for flood repairs.
"We came out of it in pretty good shape," said Terry Turner, the county's emergency management director. "It more than covered our expenses."
While FEMA agreed to pay 75 percent of the repairs, the county will have to come up with the other 25 percent as a match. However, volunteer hours and any other donations can be considered part of that 25 percent.
Volunteers from local construction companies and church groups logged 2,300 hours helping with various aspects of flood control, such as operating machinery and sandbagging.
When assigned a $10-per-hour value, the volunteers' hours added up to more than 25 percent of repair costs, FEMA determined.
"FEMA was impressed," said Councilwoman Ronda Kippen. "They said we did an amazing job tracking things."
Turner agreed, saying, "All the documentation and volunteers all paid off in the long run."
Kippen said community members' photos of conditions during flooding helped FEMA representatives make crucial funding decisions.
FEMA promised $13,000 to the county to restore the Peterson bridge to its pre-flood condition. The council discussed putting the money toward a redesign of the bridge.
Another $23,000 will repair a road in Peterson that was damaged by the flood. FEMA will pay $21,000 toward the Croydon intersection that was closed for some time because it was under water. Another $40,000 in county expenses will be reimbursed as well.
Although the county applied for repairs near Gordon Creek, FEMA turned that down because it is on private property, Turner said. FEMA turned the county down on repairs at the fairgrounds as well.
Most of the flooding damage through Morgan County was on private property, Turner said.
"There were problems from East Canyon to Weber Canyon. We could spend millions of dollars."
Because of the demand for FEMA money from many other municipalities, Morgan County is scheduled to receive $53,362 of the money in 60 days and will have to wait for the remainder.
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