Local damage due to flooding will not be be qualified as a Disaster Declaration. According to Uintah County Emergency Management Director Tal Ehlers, the flooding was a tragic inconvenience to several homes and businesses but the damage does not come anywhere close to qualifying for disaster funds. “I have been in touch every day with the state Division of Emergency Management,” shares Ehlers, “and the damage does not come anywhere near where the state would have to be for a federal declaration and we are also nowhere close to the threshold for damage here.” Speaking at the Commission meeting
Monday
, Ehlers urged citizens to check and possibly upgrade their insurance policies and to prepare for future threats by having sandbags on hand at their residence, especially if a home is located in a floodplain or near a canal or ditch. Commissioner Mark Raymond stated that several roads in the county are closed and culverts are damaged from
Thursday’s
storm. The county roads department is working to repair damage with the main transportation corridors taking priority. Raymond also stated that the county is committed to fixing the Ouray Bird Refuge road.
