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Need a storm shelter? FEMA's buying
Applications for federal reimbursement program being taken beginning Tuesday
In the midst of autumn and with winter looming, the spring storm season may still seem a long way away — but as Oklahoma residents know, severe weather can strike anytime the conditions align.
Now, there may be a way for those who have always wanted a storm cellar or safe room to get one, with some assistance through a project called the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program for Storm Shelters.
Applications will be gathered by the Pittsburg County Office of Emergency Management, working in conjunction with the Pittsburg County Board of Commissioners.
Beginning on Tuesday, applications for the program will be available at the commissioners’ office, said Pittsburg County Office of Emergency Management Director Trent Myers. The commissioners’ office is at the west end of the county offices at Sixth Street and Choctaw Avenue.
Applications must be completed and returned. They will be sent to the state Office of Emergency Management and then on to the federal Emergency Management Agency.
Deadline for the applications to be completed and returned will be a little more than two weeks.
“The deadline for them to be turned back in is Dec. 1,” said Lois Lupardus, the assistant director of the Pittsburg County Office of Emergency Management.
She said she planned to be at the county commissioners’ office on Tuesday to help hand out the applications and to answer any questions.
Myers wanted those completing applications to be aware of several points.
Completing an application does not guarantee acceptance into the program, he said. FEMA, not local officials, will determine who will be accepted into the program, according to Myers.
Those who are accepted will have to be able to pay for the projects themselves up-front.
“You will first have to pay for the entire project yourself,” Myers said.
The reimbursement offered to those who are accepted is 75 percent of the cost, up to $2,000. Those participating will have to provide the remaining 25 percent of the cost, which is not part of the reimbursement program.
Myers said that as county emergency management director, he will have to inspect each of the cellars and safe rooms which are included in the project.
“They have to have four hinges on the door and a lock on the door,” he said.
No income guidelines are in place for applicants, Myers said.
The program is available only for those who own the property where the safe room or storm cellar is to be constructed. Renters can’t apply, Myers said.
A crucial point is for property owners to be aware that they should not begin construction before they are notified by a safe room program administrator that they have been accepted into the program.
Anyone who does begin construction on a storm cellar or safe room prior to such notification will be disqualified from receiving reimbursement through the program, Myers said.
He also urged those who complete applications to be patient.
Myers said the local Office of Emergency Management has no control over how long it will take for applicants to learn whether they have been approved for the program, or how long it will take to get reimbursed if they are approved and become participants.
Lupardus and Myers believe the program will continue for the next federal fiscal year.
“If there’s an overwhelming load of applicants and they don’t all get approved, next year we’ll apply for more,” Lupardus said.
Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.
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