MONROE - Thirty-four Green County government agencies have applied for Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursement for expenses related to last winter's historic blizzard.
And as the FEMA team prepares to leave Monroe, preliminary totals show that those agencies submitted eligible storm-related expenses totaling $353,000, said Tanna McKeon, Green County's emergency management coordinator.
In Lafayette County, 32 government agencies submitted government expenses totaling about $195,000, said Jim Zavoral, a FEMA public assistance coordinator and part of a 3-member FEMA team that has been processing applications here.
In April, Green County was added to a list of 11 others in Wisconsin that qualify for federal emergency assistance related to last winter's blizzard, which stranded motorists, strained resources and challenged highway crews from Jan. 31 to Feb. 3, 2011.
Lafayette County was on the original list of counties to qualify for aid, while Green County was added later, after additional information on snowfall totals was submitted to officials.
The money covers a government's "highest expenses during a 48-hour period of time from Jan. 31 to Feb. 7, 2011," the height of the blizzard and cleanup, officials said.
With FEMA assistance, those agencies may be reimbursed for 75 percent of their expenses, with the state picking up another 12.5 percent.
McKeon said that money is welcome in a time of lean public budgets, especially for rural townships.
"The towns are stretched very thin," said McKeon. "They are happy to get the help."
In addition to Lafayette and Green Counties, eligible counties named in the federal disaster declaration include Dane, Dodge, Grant, Iowa, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Racine, Walworth and Washington.
Assistance is only available for local and state agencies.
The storm set a record with about 25 inches of snowfall.
And as the FEMA team prepares to leave Monroe, preliminary totals show that those agencies submitted eligible storm-related expenses totaling $353,000, said Tanna McKeon, Green County's emergency management coordinator.
In Lafayette County, 32 government agencies submitted government expenses totaling about $195,000, said Jim Zavoral, a FEMA public assistance coordinator and part of a 3-member FEMA team that has been processing applications here.
In April, Green County was added to a list of 11 others in Wisconsin that qualify for federal emergency assistance related to last winter's blizzard, which stranded motorists, strained resources and challenged highway crews from Jan. 31 to Feb. 3, 2011.
Lafayette County was on the original list of counties to qualify for aid, while Green County was added later, after additional information on snowfall totals was submitted to officials.
The money covers a government's "highest expenses during a 48-hour period of time from Jan. 31 to Feb. 7, 2011," the height of the blizzard and cleanup, officials said.
With FEMA assistance, those agencies may be reimbursed for 75 percent of their expenses, with the state picking up another 12.5 percent.
McKeon said that money is welcome in a time of lean public budgets, especially for rural townships.
"The towns are stretched very thin," said McKeon. "They are happy to get the help."
In addition to Lafayette and Green Counties, eligible counties named in the federal disaster declaration include Dane, Dodge, Grant, Iowa, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Racine, Walworth and Washington.
Assistance is only available for local and state agencies.
The storm set a record with about 25 inches of snowfall.