Emergency services director explains lack of FEMA help following May tornado

CENTREVILLE — St. Joseph County Emergency Services Director Erin Goff is urging residents impacted by the May 7 tornado to consider a limited-time offer for a low-interest loan.

She also shed light on the recent decision by Federal Emergency Management Agency, which opted to not offer aid for St. Joseph, Branch and neighboring counties. The agency determined the extent of damage does not justify supplemental federal assistance.

Goff said she is disappointed for the local residents who suffered extensive loss, but, she added, she wasn’t 100% surprised.

“There were a lot of other disasters nationwide occurring at the same time, and the monetary values and impacts were — not that it’s a competition — but, some of those were more significant,” Goff said. “It’s their job to look at the nationwide picture and ultimately it is up to them, and there isn’t necessarily specific criteria; they’re looking at the overall impact and they make their judgment based on that. It isn’t a bunch of checked boxes, basically.”

Shortly after the May 7 weather incidents, a request was made by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to FEMA for a major disaster declaration in order to secure aid for Branch, Cass, Kalamazoo, and St. Joseph counties.

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FEMA officials announced last week they reviewed Whitmer’s request and ultimately denied it.

Goff said FEMA also takes into account additional criteria.

“They also look at whether the state’s resources have been exhausted, because when we declare an emergency, we’re saying ‘Something bad is happening and we are putting out all of our available resources,’” she said. “When the state declares an emergency for us, they are acknowledging that we are taxing all of our available resources to make it happen. When a federal declaration is made, they’re looking at the local and the state … so they felt that, while we were using all of the available resources, it wasn’t that there were unfilled needs at that point.”

Goff said it’s a tough situation because someone local who suffered a considerable amount of property damage, for example, probably doesn’t quite understand nor fully accept FEMA’s explanation.

Information on the potential for an appeal of FEMA’s decision is pending. However, Goff said an appeal is typically only granted if there is additional information not presented or documented with the original application.

“For us, there isn’t anything I’m familiar with that would fall into that category,” she said. “We don’t really have anything additional beyond what we’ve already reported.”

Goff said resources from the Small Business Administration disaster declaration are still available and include a variety of low-interest disaster loans.

That declaration is specific to Kalamazoo County, with residents of St. Joseph County also eligible to apply. There is an in-person Disaster Loan Outreach Center set up at Portage City Hall.

There are also options to apply online ( sba.gov/disaster ), through email, disastercustomerservice@sba.gov, and over the phone, 800-659-2955.

“I know it’s really hard to get up to Kalamazoo County for some of our residents, so I definitely encourage them to use the online option or to call the customer-service line,” she said. “Just have that conversation with them. I understand it’s a very personal decision to borrow money, but get all the information you can before you make that decision. It is an available option and it might be the right decision for some people.”

The Disaster Loan Outreach Center at Portage City Hall is open for in-person service 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. It will close permanently at 4 p.m. Aug. 9.

One final matter Goff wished to address centers on a media release recently issued by Whitmer’s office. It focused on state funds made available to a number of counties, including $21,000 to St. Joseph and $31,000 to Branch.

“I just want everybody to understand those state-issued funds are not for individual residents, and the funding that is coming down to St. Joseph County is actually going to a local township that had expenses that were eligible for reimbursement by the state and that’s what that funding is for,” she said. “It’s part of the Disaster and Emergency Contingency Fund, which is something we accessed after the August 2021 storm. There were quite a few jurisdictions in our county then that applied for and received reimbursement-based funding for debris cleanup, infrastructure damage, damage to roads and culverts, those sorts of things.”

More: Southwest Michigan counties to get disaster aid following May 7 tornadoes

Goff said entities have to apply for potential DECF funding on their own.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Emergency services director explains lack of FEMA help following May tornado