PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson County Public Utility District manager hopes to receive about $300,000 in federal aid for repairs to electrical utility infrastructure damaged in a late August windstorm that put some 12,000 customers in the dark.
President Barack Obama signed a disaster declaration Thursday to repair or replace facilities damaged in the Aug. 29 storm. Jefferson County was among those listed to receive help.
Jim Parker, PUD manager, said he applied for the funds to cover money spent on utility damage.
The cost is ongoing, he said, because several utility poles downed during the storm have yet to be repaired.
Keppie Keplinger, spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management, said the PUD was the only county agency to apply for the funds.
But that could change.
“Now that the order has been signed, other agencies can apply,” she said.
“We will be contacting any agency that may be qualified for assistance.”
Island and Snohomish counties also are eligible for recovery aid, and federal funding is available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation statewide.
Clallam County was not mentioned in Thursday’s declaration.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, known as FEMA, is surveying damage and may designate more counties for assistance, officials said.
FEMA officials will, over the next few weeks, meet with representatives of the state’s Emergency Management Division as well as those from the affected counties to develop a plan, according to spokesman Ryan Ike.
Money will be awarded on a case-by-case basis, he said.
“It’s not a lump sum,” Ike said. “We don’t just hand people a million dollars.
“We work with the applicants and the utility districts to work out the repair costs.”
Federal reimbursement usually covers 75 percent of the costs, Keplinger said.
Winds that approached 90 mph on the North Olympic Peninsula’s Pacific Coast and more than 50 mph in East Jefferson County dropped trees on cars and power lines, closing Olympic National Park roads and cutting power to more than 14,400 customers in Clallam and Jefferson counties.
Of those who lost power, about 12,000 were Jefferson County PUD customers.
Olympic National Park shut down completely after the windstorm, and some areas remained closed for several days to clear trees and branches from roads and campgrounds and remove hazardous trees and snags.
Cliff Mass, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington, called the storm “the most powerful summer storm ever to hit our region” in his weather blog, www.cliffmass.blogspot.com.
Ike said the funds will be distributed to public agencies rather than private citizens to repair infrastructure such as damaged roads, power lines and bridges.
Once the money is awarded and the repairs begin, the public can track the process at www.fema.gov/data-visualization, Ike said.
The application procedures for state, tribal and local governments will be explained at a series of federal and state applicant briefings with locations to be announced, officials said.
Approved public repair projects are paid through the state from funding provided by FEMA and other participating federal agencies.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
