Washington County reports 435 residents tracked in long-term recovery; officials await federal aid decisions

Mayor Randy and local long-term recovery volunteers told the Washington County Board of County Commissioners on the county’s first meeting of the year that recovery work from the recent storm continues, with hundreds of households still needing assistance.

Long Term Recovery Group volunteer James said the program is tracking 435 residents affected by the storm and has contacted 142 of them through volunteer navigators. "Right now, we are currently tracking 435 total residents impacted by the storm," James said. "To date, we have contacted through our navigators 142 of those residents." He reported 31 homes currently under construction, five more homes completed since the previous update, nine properties assigned to volunteers for debris removal and 18 homes with signed contracts that are in permitting or procurement stages.

The group reported $48,306 in direct donations from community members and churches; organizers said none of that money had been spent because they are still relying on volunteer resources for immediate repairs. The recovery team held an expo to help survivors complete FEMA applications; the organizers said roughly 150 people attended the event noted as a one-stop resource for FEMA, TDEC, the building department, Habitat for Humanity and other aid organizations.

Mayor Randy told commissioners the county has been working with FEMA, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) and state officials on public-assistance reimbursements. He said Washington County has been approved by FEMA for $6,200,000 in obligated public-assistance funds so far and that the region had applied for larger, multi-jurisdictional funding. "We have approximately $50,000,000 worth of frozen bridges that will need to be repaired and fixed," Mayor Randy said, citing damage to road approaches caused by debris and heavy equipment transport. He said a proposed regional package would total roughly $450,000,000 and include state and governor-directed dollars; local officials said that portion of the package includes funding to lower local cost shares on federal projects.

The county reported a separate grant of more than $200,000 to support the management of long-term recovery operations. County staff said the grant — routed through local partners including United Way and the East Tennessee Foundation — will fund a professional organization to manage volunteers, data and FEMA portal submissions. County officials said they have engaged a consultant with FEMA experience to help organize and submit public-assistance claims.

Officials also reminded residents the TDOT debris-removal agreement was scheduled to end January 31, and urged property owners to place curbside debris in rights-of-way before that deadline to qualify for removal. Staff said additional public-assistance projects were in various stages; the county currently has 33 projects entered into FEMA public-assistance processes.

Next steps noted at the meeting: the long-term recovery team will hold another expo to assist residents with FEMA registration, the county will continue working with the consultant to submit claims, and elected officials planned travel to Nashville for regional discussions about state disaster recovery support.

Sources: remarks by Mayor Randy; remarks by James, Long Term Recovery Group.