"Communities are coming together to rebuild," Greitens said in a statement this week. "Support from the administration is essential to that effort."
In order for the governor to a request a federal disaster declaration, the state would need to have at least $8.9 million in damages, said Charla Geller, Newton County emergency management director. According to the letter sent Wednesday by the Missouri congressional delegation, the preliminary damage assessment for the state rested at about $57.5 million.
A damage assessment looks at two things: public assistance for damaged roads and bridges, and individual assistance for ruined homes and businesses. Forty-five counties reached the threshold to qualify for damages for public assistance; 37 counties in Missouri qualify for individual assistance.
Both Newton and McDonald counties would be able to access both kinds of assistance if the president approves the governor's request.
In Newton County, eight transportation districts reported about $508,000 in damages to roads and bridges, Geller said. She added that all of the reported numbers were preliminary estimates and that she expected all of them to go up.
"We more than doubled what was necessary for Newton County to be considered for the declaration," Geller said.
To be counted as "destroyed," more than 4 feet of water must have entered the home, Geller said. Homes with 2 to 4 feet of water were designated as "major damage"; 6 inches to 2 feet is considered "minor damage." "Affected" homes had less than 6 inches of water in them.
In Newton County, Geller reported 12 homes and four mobile homes were destroyed, 151 homes had major damage, 92 homes had minor damage, and 93 homes were affected. Three businesses were destroyed, nine businesses had major damage, and 20 businesses had minor damage.
In McDonald County, about 135 different locations, including homes and churches, were reported to be damaged, Greg Sweeten, its emergency management director, said. About 12 of those locations were destroyed, and 45 had major damage. Sweeten said five businesses still needed to be added to the assessment.
"The road foreman said there was not a road in McDonald County that did not get damaged," Sweeten said. "We have 600 miles of road."
He said about $400,000 to $500,000 in damage was what the county reported, but he expected the number to rise.
The governor asked for public assistance for Barry and Barton counties but not for help with damage to homes.
David Compton, Barry County emergency management director, said the preliminary estimate for roads and bridges was between $500,000 and $600,000.
"It won't shock me if that number ends up closer to a million," Compton said.
Tom Ryan, Barton County emergency management director, said that in order to qualify for assistance, the county had to have about $49,000 in damage. Though he didn't have exact figures available, Ryan said damage estimates in the county far exceeded the necessary threshold.
"We had one or two townships that had more than that alone," he added.
Jasper County qualified for individual assistance for homes and businesses but not public assistance.
Keith Stammer, its emergency management director, said 12 to 18 homes sustained moderate to heavy damage. No businesses were destroyed, he added, though some were designated as affected.
Contacts for claims
Keith Stammer, emergency management director for Joplin and Jasper County, said as soon as the federal government declares the counties a disaster zone, emergency management agencies will advertise contacts to whom those affected may submit claims.
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