Osage County declares local state of emergency after winter storm

Osage County commissioners voted Jan. 9 to proclaim a state and local disaster emergency for the county in response to a recent snowstorm.

The proclamation, identified in the meeting as resolution number 2025-01, was moved and seconded and approved unanimously by the three commissioners present. Chris Howard, introduced at the meeting as the county's new emergency management director, told commissioners that regional emergency management had recommended counties declare because the storm may meet thresholds for state or federal assistance. "The emergency management recommends declaring for the storm," he said.

Howard said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) may consider assistance when snowfall reaches near-record levels (described in discussion as "within 10% of the record snowfall") and that declaring now preserves the county's ability to seek aid for costs that small-budget communities could not absorb alone. He asked that the signed declaration be uploaded to the state's emergency management website.

During the discussion commissioners noted they had received a later message that the governor had issued a statewide disaster proclamation related to the winter storm. A county official said they received an email saying the governor declared a disaster proclamation verbally on Jan. 4 at 15:46 hours, covering the entire state and including all counties.

The commissioners approved the local proclamation and instructed staff to file the signed declaration with the state.

The emergency declaration does not itself obligate county spending; the commissioners discussed the declaration as a step to preserve eligibility for state or federal reimbursement should damage and costs meet program thresholds.