FEMA officials expected to arrive Wednesday in Albany

ALBANY — Six teams of Federal Emergency Management Agency officials are expected to arrive in Albany on Wednesday to begin assessing storm damage in the city, Dougherty County Emergency Management Director Ron Rowe told the Dougherty County Commission this morning.

Local and Georgia Emergency Management Agency officials have asked the federal agency to make a declaration of emergency that would qualify the city and individuals impacted by the storm that came through the area Jan. 2 to recoup uninsured costs associated with the storm. To receive such a declaration, at least $14 million in damages must have occurred.

Rowe, who is also the Albany Fire Department chief, told county commissioners that an initial assessment of costs, excluding structural damages, is $16 million.

“That was just an initial assessment,” Rowe said. “We expect the totals to far exceed that number. (The $16 million figure) includes costs above our normal operating costs. GEMA officials have sent word to FEMA that their assistance is needed. While touring with them Sunday, the phrase I kept hearing was, ‘It looks like a bomb’s gone off.’”

Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital’s Gary Rice, a former top-level GEMA official who is working at no cost to the county to help with storm management, said the necessary information is being sent to FEMA officials, who, after their assessment, could recommend that President Obama make a federal disaster declaration.

“What GEMA officials have told the federal folks is that not only is this disaster beyond the scope of local resources, it’s beyond state resources as well,” Rice said.

The storms struck the Albany area and other parts of Southwest Georgia after 10 p.m. Jan. 2, downing trees, disrupting power and blocking streets and whole neighborhoods. The storm spawned nine tornadoes, including one in northeast Dougherty County. At least six deaths were associated with the storms, and hundreds of Albany homes still are without power.