The Athens County Commissioners had an emergency meeting yesterday with County Engineer Archie Stanley to declare Athens County a disaster area.
Commissioner Mark Sullivan said there are no set criteria for determining a disaster area. According to state law, county commissioners, village mayors or township trustees can declare a county a disaster area. Because of the recent flooding, the commissioners decided to make the declaration because without it the county would not be able to receive federal or state assistance.
With flooding problems
we knew certain areas were having significant problems and we just decided to declare the whole county a disaster area Sullivan said.
Residents affected by flooding will be eligible for financial assistance from state and local governments. The amount of assistance and number of people affected will be determined after flooding is over, said Commissioner Lenny Eliason.
Right now flooding has prevented county officials from assessing damage to the roads and bridges. The commissioners know of at least 15 homes experiencing water problems and numerous road slippage problems in the county, Sullivan said.
The state Emergency Management Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency will be assessing the damage and determining how much monetary assistance the county will receive Sullivan said.
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