Two weeks ago, there were 11 tornadoes in Ohio, and one touched down in Athens County. Athens High School's football field was destroyed, about 300 homes were damaged and the event was declared a local emergency. Because a good portion of the residencies hit by the storm were mobile homes, they were ruined completely.
Athens, Meigs and Perry counties were awarded $1.6 million to rebuild - almost two weeks later. Ohio Emergency Management Agencies initially projected no Ohio county would be eligible for federal aid or state assistance, said a press secretary for Gov. Ted Strickland.
Federal emergency assistance requests are decided by several factors: how a county responds to the event, homes damaged and the amount of tornado insurance in the state.
How original assessments could be so far off from the outcome is beyond us. Athens County is one of the poorest counties in Ohio. Almost immediately, the state should have anticipated poverty-stricken areas would be hurting, and should have started trying to pour funds into the area as soon as possible.
Athens County residents should have been a priority, but the state couldn't get its act together. As of Sept. 22, almost a week after the event, Strickland still had not submitted a request for disaster relief centers. Having disaster relief centers would allow the U.S. Small Business Administration to grant low-interest loans to small businesses as well as homeowners. By dragging his feet, Strickland impeded other support entities.
In contrast, Ohio University students, the Athens County Chapter of the Red Cross and Athens County Job & Family Services, among other organizations, stepped up to help victims from Athens County the weekend after the tornadoes tore through Ohio.
Having such a staggering response from organizations and students is great, but these groups can only do so much. Emergency aid should help snap a region into shape post-disaster. People lack basics, and when the whole neighborhood is in distress mode, the usual places for help are debilitated - intervention from the outside is needed. The sooner, the better.
Strickland did the county a disservice by leaving the possibility of aid on the table for so long. These are human beings in need, not merely numbers to crunch and calculate. What message is the state sending Athens County residents?
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post's executive editors.
4 Opinion
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