Carter County gets first Helene reimbursement from FEMA

ELIZABETHTON — Carter County received some good new just as the first anniversary of Helene was observed.Last Thursday, the county received its first reimbursement payment from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.That reimbursement was for $260,000. It was welcome news for a county that has spent down $10 million of the $20 million it had in its fund balance at the time Helene struck on Sept. 27, 2024."We are thrilled that Carter County has received this money," Mayor Patty Woodby said. "This is the first such payment that TEMA and FEMA has issued." She said it is the first such payment for any government in the region for Helene.Woodby said the first payment was for expenditures on the temporary bridges installed in the Poga and Elk Mills communities. With that reimbursement now completed, she said there is hope that a larger payment may soon make its way to the county. That payment is for $1 million. She said now that the first payment has been received, the county believes the procedure will be streamlined for the future reimbursements.Sen. Rusty Crowe, who represents Carter County in the Tennessee Senate in Nashville, said the first reimbursement was for $260,864.25 for the full replacement of the two Poga Road Bridges and the installation and removal of the temporary bridges that were necessary to bypass the destroyed Poga Road Bridges."It's taken way too long to access these dollars and it is certainly not TEMA's fault," Crowe said. "Our Tennessee Emergency Management Agency under the direction of Patrick Sheehan has done a remarkable job. Rep. Renea Jones, Rep. Matthew Hill and I have been pushing very hard to get the federal FEMA dollars moving down from the federal government to TEMA so that we can get it out to our counties and the people we serve … but Tennessee has had a system for moving federal dollars through to the state that is very cumbersome because it has built in mechanisms to make sure there is very little or no fraud, waste and abuse."As a result, Crowe said "it has taken way too long to get these FEMA dollars to our counties who really need them."Crowe said "we have had several meetings in Nashville and in Carter County working through this process, and we are in the process of re-drafting legislation to make for a more workable solution. One that is as quick as possible but also still be able to stop fraud waste and abuse."In the meantime, Crowe said he was glad to see Carter County has begun to receive some of the money it is due. "Mayor Woodby and her council have worked day and night with us and with TEMA. Had they not worked so hard on this, today's announcement would not have been possible."Crowe said this is just the beginning. "We have much to work on in Carter County that will require millions of dollars. The county has already received $40 million from a bond issue to rebuild county roads that had been badly damaged in the storm. Crowe said there is also work to be done at Hampton High School and the sewage and wastewater systems, as well as many roads and bridges in the Roan Mountain and Shell Creek area.He said other needs include the Poga Volunteer Fire Station, the First Utility District. He said "it is our priority to make sure we revisit our state financial reimbursement and grants system so that we can begin to make sure the dollars we are due flow to our county as quickly as possible."Crowe concluded by saying "the main thing is to make sure we get the dollars needed to those that truly need our help as quickly as possible."