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Moore, Okla., Moves Ahead with Infrastructure Recovery Plan after Tornadoes

Damage assessments estimated that 1,047 homes and businesses were damaged in the tornadoes, severe storms, straight-line winds and flooding that occurred March 25.

(TNS) — Gov. Mary Fallin expressed disappointment on Monday that federal assistance was denied to help individuals and businesses in Tulsa and Cleveland counties that were hit by March tornadoes. On April 1, the governor asked for a major disaster declaration for the state based on damages by tornadoes, straight-line winds and flooding March 25-26 in Cleveland and Tulsa counties.

Tornadoes resulted in four deaths with 26 people suffering injuries that required treatment at area hospitals, according to a state press release.

Damage assessments estimated that 1,047 homes and businesses were damaged in the tornadoes, severe storms, straight-line winds and flooding that occurred March 25.

FEMA responded in a letter dated April 3, saying, “we have determined that supplemental federal assistance is not necessary.”

Moore City Manager Steve Eddy said he was not surprised by the denial, based on the scope of damage done.

While the recent tornadoes did not meet the threshold to qualify for FEMA funding, Moore has received millions in aid for recovery from the May 20, 2013, tornado. In addition to FEMA funding received initially, Moore has received grants through the Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program.

While assistance to individuals and businesses came first, the 2013 tornado also damaged much of the public infrastructure in the affected areas.

• Infrastructure recovery under way: As part of the CDBG-DR grant process, Moore contracted Cardinal Engineering to develop an Infrastructure Recovery and Implementation Plan to guide improvements of streets, sidewalks, sanitary sewer, drainage, water distribution, trails/bikeways and gateways/streetscapes.

Jason Cotton of Cardinal presented the assessment to the Moore City Council on Monday evening. The process involved public meetings and boots on the ground inspections in storm-affected areas.

“We developed a scoring system,” Cotton said.

A meeting at Moore Library last fall allowed for a lot of public input as people talked about problems in their neighborhood in small breakout groups. The public also did a visual preference survey online with 900 responding.

“There was a significant public outreach in conjunction with this plan,” Cotton said.

The assessment included a walkability audit that looked at pedestrian connectivity around schools — a prime concern express by many people.

The hardest hit, top priority areas were rated as being Plaza Towers, J.D. Estates, King’s Manor, Southmoor, Baer’s Westmoore and Telephone Road. The impacts were “highly dependent on age of existing infrastructure,” Cotton said.

Older roads and sidewalks received the most significant damage from the storm and from debris removal by heavy equipment afterward.

The study identified 47 projects, with construction cost estimates totaling $162 million.

“There’s an opportunity here to make these areas more than what they were before,” Cotton said.

Suggested upgrades include paving, gateways, fencing and crosswalks.

• Jumping through funding hoops: Randall Mullen, vice president for Training & Development Associates, worked with Cardinal to do the funding analysis of project eligibility and the significance of unmet needs.

“The project had to connect to the covered disaster area and contribute to the community’s recovery,” Mullen said. Another federal requirement was to meet the need for low-income housing to replace homes lost in the tornado.

Of the projects, “all of them do appear to meet the CBDG-DR guidelines,” Mullen said.

Of those 47 projects, the city had identified 25 priority projects in the most impacted areas, beginning with Plaza Towers. The price tag on those 25 projects is approximately $20 million — the city has a current allocation of $18 million.

The city would need to reallocate $2 million from other uses of disaster recovery money, but those projects are “in the realm of possibility,” Mullen said.

The total price tag is enormous, Mullen said, leaving many unmet needs, but the city is in the process of applying for another grant.

All together, there are about $110 million to $120 million in infrastructure projects that need to be done as a result of tornado damage.

“The city is applying for a $52 million grant, which could cut that in half,” Mullen said.

Cotton said the implementation schedule is for 97 months to complete all proposed public infrastructure projects starting this May and ending May 2023. A funding deadline for CDBG-DR funds of September 2019 means the projects funded under that grant must be under way by 2019, giving them priority.

While the IRIP helps establish priorities, the assessment is not the final order. Ultimately, policies and guidelines will be established by city leadership. But the plan need to be done quickly to allow for the maximum assistance in federal dollars, Cotton said.

The three areas identified already as those most in need of public infrastructure are Plaza Towers, J.D. Estates and King’s Manor.

Cotton said property owners and potential property owners need to see improvements to the areas.

“We think that’s really important to encourage people and show them the city is recovering,” Cotton said.

• Spreading the money around: Community Development Director Elizabeth Jones said city staff studied how to distribute funding in a fair and equitable way throughout the city.

“In the end, we determined that we should definitely split the city east and west by the I-35 corridor,” Jones said.

The most damage was on the west side, representing 65 percent of the total damage, and 35 percent of the damage is in the east corridor, so those percentages were used to split current funding with $11 million going to the west and $6 million going to the east.

The city has hired three new full-time staff members and is about to hire one more to deal with infrastructure recovery details.

“This is just a lot larger and a lot more complicated than we’ve ever seen,” Eddy said. “We believe it’s very important that these projects get done, and that we rebuild these neighborhoods.”

While managing those federal dollars may seem cumbersome, they have been a boon to the recovery process.

• Possible help for March 2015 victims: While the recent March 25 tornado was not near the scope of the 2013 tornado, for those individuals and businesses affected, it can feel just as devastating. Despite FEMA’s decision, help may be on the way.

Fallin said the state is requesting a disaster declaration for Tulsa and Cleveland counties through the U.S. Small Business Administration.

“Having toured the damage near Sand Springs and Moore, I know firsthand how devastating last month’s tornadoes were to these communities,” Fallin said. “It is my hope the community can still receive help from the Small Business Administration. Many families and businesses could benefit greatly from the low-interest loans the SBA provides to those who have suffered from storm damage.”

If approved, an SBA declaration make SBA low-interest disaster loans possible. These loans could help renters, homeowners and business owners repair or replace property damaged by severe weather in cases where the property is not covered by insurance or other assistance programs.

The loan program also would be available to help businesses affected economically by the storms.

If approved, SBA assistance could be available to affected persons in Moore, Oklahoma City, Sand Springs, Tulsa and other areas in Tulsa and Cleveland counties, as well as in all contiguous counties.

More than 1,100 homeowners insurance claims were filed within a day of the tornadoes, Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak reported.

Consumers with insurance questions are encouraged to contact the Oklahoma Insurance Department’s Consumer Assistance Division at 800-522-0071.

©2015 The Norman Transcript (Norman, Okla.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.