FARMINGTON -- It appears Davis County entities will receive federal aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency because of the damage from the Dec. 1 hurricane-force winds that tore through the area.
A "preliminary damage assessment" of public properties within the county -- conducted Jan. 10-13 by FEMA representatives -- revealed entities collectively sustained $4.1 million in property damage from the storm, said Ellis Bruch, Davis County Sheriff's Office emergency management director.
Those damage assessments have been turned over to the state Division of Emergency Management, which has recommended they be reviewed by Gov. Gary Herbert's legal staff.
"We expect the request (for FEMA funds) from the governor to be made this week or early next week," said state Division of Emergency Management spokesman Joe Dougherty.
The preliminary damage assessment exceeds the $3.59 million threshold the groups had to meet in order to receive FEMA's help, Bruch said.
The dollar figure is based on state population figures.
"It is very good news," Bruch said.
"This is a positive ending to a negative event," he said of the windstorm that ripped through the Top of Utah, leveling a few small buildings, damaging signs and uprooting trees -- some of which fell on power lines and left cities without power for an extended period.
Based on the assessments performed by FEMA, it appears most of the property damage occurred at the Kaysville-owned and Bountiful-owned power plants, Bruch said.
Bountiful city officials initially estimated its power plant had sustained $1.5 million in damage from the storm. Most of that came as a result of downed power lines and broken power poles.
Kaysville officials reported -- early in the process -- that its power plant sustained about $500,000 in similar damage from the storm.
But the $4.1 million in damages includes all damage to state, county, city and special service district properties, including some damage to Utah Department of Transportation property, Bruch said.
One concern was that assessing the county's damage would be difficult because much of the storm debris had already been cleaned up through volunteer efforts before the FEMA assessment.
But it appears that entities were able to provide FEMA representatives with the documented data needed to verify the massive cleanup effort that followed the storm.
Dougherty said the cost related to cleaning up piles of debris was one of the biggest expenses the various public entities were able to demonstrate.
"The prospect of the rest of the American people paying to help Davis County recover is an amazing boon," Dougherty said, referring to the federal funds.
Once the governor's office makes a declaration for FEMA funds, on the condition the request meets President Barack Obama's approval, Dougherty said, it could be several weeks before any federal dollars are issued to Davis public entities.
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