The Federal Emergency Management Agency is offering disaster assistance to dozens of counties in western Kansas which were affected by a late spring snowstorm.
The storm dumped heavy snow, and straight-line winds up to 60 miles per hour created drifts and knocked downed power lines and trees. The snowstorm affected 27 counties, mainly in western and northwestern Kansas, from April 28 to May 3.
FEMA will reimburse state and local governments, agencies and nonprofits for recovery projects.
Financial assistance is available for emergency work and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged facilities. Assistance is also available to help with the cost of snow removal in nine counties.
Preliminary damage assessments put the storm recovery costs at about $53 million. President Donald Trump issued a major disaster declaration for the area in mid-June.
Kansas counties eligible for FEMA disaster assistance: Cherokee, Cheyenne, Crawford, Decatur, Finney, Gove, Graham, Grant, Greeley, Hamilton, Haskell, Kearny, Lane, Logan, Morton, Neosho, Norton, Rawlins, Scott, Seward, Sheridan, Sherman, Stanton, Stevens, Thomas, Wallace, and Wichita counties.
Kansas counties eligible for snow removal assistance: Greeley, Hamilton, Lane, Logan, Morton, Scott, Stanton, Thomas, and Wallace counties.
All counties in the state of Kansas are eligible for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). Hazard mitigation projects may involve the construction of a new facility (such as a retention pond, or debris dam), modification of an existing undamaged facility (improving waterway openings of bridges or culverts), and the relocation of facilities out of the floodplain.
--Follow Deborah Shaar on Twitter @deborahshaar.
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