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Officials say March 31 storm caused about $3.5 million in damage; county fell short of state disaster threshold
Summary
Allegany County emergency management reported roughly $3.5 million in damage from a March 31 storm, described a building collapse with no injuries, and urged towns to better document damages so future hazard mitigation funding can be sought. County and state thresholds kept the event below declaration levels.
Allegany County Emergency Management Director Scott Golden told the Public Safety Committee on May 6 that the March 31 storm produced more than 70 calls for service and about $3.5 million in total damage, but the county did not meet the state's per-event threshold for a disaster declaration.
"I think we're coming in about three and a half million total in damage," Golden said, noting that responders documented pump-outs, downed trees and other localized losses. He added that a building in Wellsville partially collapsed; the structure was unoccupied and there were no injuries.
The report aimed to explain why the county could not secure state-funded disaster assistance. Golden described the state's formula and told members the county-level threshold for triggering certain types of assistance was $225,776; he said the statewide per-event calculation the state uses was about $39,190,000 and that the combined losses across affected counties still left the March 31 event below the declaration trigger.
Golden urged town officials to keep thorough photographic and written records of damage and response work. "You got to document, document, document," he said, adding that those records feed into five-year hazard mitigation planning and increase the prospects of funding for long-term projects.
Committee members asked whether towns were consistently saving documentation; Golden said some are and some are not, and reminded members that the county office is available to train and assist municipalities on recordkeeping. He said the county held an April tabletop exercise and a joint meeting with partners including United Way and the 211 program to coordinate recovery support.
The presentation also noted operational response items: the county logged an incident-action planning meeting ahead of the county fair and arranged mutual aid and resource coordination with fire and EMS partners following the storm. Golden said staff compiled damage estimates and photo documentation but that the totals were insufficient to meet the state's disaster-declaration standard for public assistance.
The committee did not take further action at the meeting; Golden said the county will continue to support municipalities in documenting and preparing hazard mitigation materials ahead of future funding cycles.
