FEMA assessing Dixie damage

ST. GEORGE — Teams of federal, state and local officials were on the ground in Washington and Kane counties this week trying to put a dollar figure on eligible flood repair projects.

"The idea is to make sure we find every possible project that could have been funded" by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other federal agencies, said Randy Welch, a FEMA public information officer deployed to St. George for the next few weeks. "We want to find every other agency that could play a role in this recovery effort and get them to participate."

St. George Mayor Dan McArthur said he's impressed with the level of commitment he sees coming from FEMA's staff. The Utah Department of Public Safety's Division of Emergency Services and Homeland Security assigned seven people to work with FEMA and local officials in the reconstruction efforts.

"This is new ground for us, but from what I'm seeing, it's going really well," McArthur said. "Everyone is working extra long hours, trying to make sure every department and agency is doing all it can to help us."

Just a few days after President Bush declared Washington and Kane counties eligible for federal disaster assistance, FEMA opened a joint field office on Tabernacle and Main Street in St. George.

The office is arranged in grid fashion, with people assigned to teams that include such things as operations/tactical, logistics/support services, financing/administrative and plan- ning/documentation. It's a standardized command structure used throughout the nation during disasters of any size.

"The most impressive thing to me is that this office was up and running in just a few days," said George Brother, a member of FEMA's tech team that set up the computers, phones and other equipment for the 54 people now working there. The tech team brings its own server, router, computers and other equipment to link the office with FEMA offices and databanks nationwide.

FEMA also transported office supplies, furniture and equipment to St. George from its Denver office, and installed temporary lights and workstations in the 9,000-square-foot office space. Local utility companies worked overtime helping FEMA transform the warehouse-like space into a workable office area.

A preliminary disaster assessment has been completed, and teams are now visiting each damage site listed by the 22 entities that submitted applications for the federal funds. The Utah Legislature also approved a $25 million low-interest loan to Washington County to help repair some of the damage to public property. Some of those funds could be used to meet the 25 percent local match required by FEMA.