Hermine cost city and county more than $10 million

The city of Tallahassee, Leon County and several of its partners spent more than $10.3 million responding to Hurricane Hermine — an amount that far exceeds one of the thresholds needed for a federal disaster declaration.

The biggest chunk of the expenses — more than $4.6 million — was spent by the city on its electric and other utilities, according to city and county documents. The local governments combined also spent nearly $3 million on debris removal.

The city and county prepared rough estimates of their costs as part of an effort to get a federal disaster declaration and assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. City and county officials are planning to meet with FEMA officials Friday to discuss the estimates.

The local governments expect a federal declaration given the size and scope of the disaster, said Deputy County Administrator Alan Rosenzweig.

“We think it’s extremely important for us to receive the federal dollars toward this disaster,” he said. “Because if we don’t receive the dollars, these would be funds the local governments would have to expend.”

Two financial thresholds have to be met for a federal disaster to be declared: around $26 million for all storm damage in Florida and around $1 million for city and county costs.

Gov. Rick Scott is expected to ask President Barack Obama to declare a federal disaster because of Hermine, which made landfall Sept. 1 near St. Marks as a Category 1 hurricane.

The American Red Cross, with help from the city and county, is continuing to conduct damage assessments of local residences. Typically, the assessments are done by the Red Cross, which has had five teams in the field. The city and county are beefing up the effort by adding an additional 16 teams from their own staffs.

“We’re ahead of where any community normally would be” in the damage assessment process, City Manager Rick Fernandez said Thursday during a meeting between Mayor Andrew Gillum, County Commission Chairman Bill Proctor and Sheriff Mike Wood.

Earlier this week, U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, D-Tallahassee, wrote the president urging him to quickly approve any request from the state for federal disaster assistance. She also urged people to report any damage to their homes to improve chances North Florida will be eligible for federal help.

“It’s really important that every bit of damage is included in the damage assessment because we have to meet a threshold amount in order to be entitled to the disaster declaration,” she said in an interview.

If a federal disaster is declared, it would allow the city and county to be reimbursed for 87 percent of their debris removal costs and 75 percent of their other costs. The rest of their expenses would be split equally by the state and local governments.

City and county costs alone totaled more than $9.4 million. The rest was expended by Talquin Electric, the Florida Department of Health in Leon County, the Salvation Army and Tallahassee Community College.

Hermine costs

Debris removal: $2.9 million.

Emergency protective measures: $1.7 million.

Roads and bridges: $143,000.

Water control facilities: $30,000.

Public buildings and contents: $15,000.

Public utilities: $5.3 million.

Parks and other facilities: $28,500.

How to get help

The city and county are opening two information stations for people who have questions about general services, insurance and other Hurricane Hermine recovery questions. The stations will be open 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the North Florida Fairgrounds, Building 2, 441 Paul Russell Road, and the Frenchtown Renaissance Building, 435 N. Macomb St.

A list of community resources and frequently asked questions will be posted on Talgov.com/Hermine and LeonCountyFL.gov/ei by the end of the day Friday. Citizens needing assistance may call 850-606-1322 or e-mail StormRecovery@leoncountyfl.gov.

People can also call U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham’s office in Tallahassee at 850-891-8610.

How to report damage

Citizens can report damage to their homes by going to the Leon County Emergency Information Portal at http://cms.leoncountyfl.gov/ei/. From the home page, go to Emergency Information and click on Damage Assessment.

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.