Putnam County on list for federal assistance request for January severe storm

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Putnam and 48 other counties are on a list Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has composed in a request for federal grants relative to the severe winter storm Jan. 5-9.

That storm produced nearly a foot of snow (11.5 inches) in the Greencastle area. Whipped by wicked winds, the snow was blown into drifts 6-7 feet high in some areas.

Temperatures were treacherous, too, bottoming out at 11 below zero locally, which resulted in wind chills of -40 or more at times.

"This was a severe, prolonged winter storm that started the 2014 calendar year with a budget-stressing situation," Pence said. "Local and state governments' financial responsibility during this type of response and recovery can be enormous."

Pence said the grants Indiana is applying for would "go a long way toward replenishing local government funds, and directly alleviate further burden on local taxpayers."

Contiguous counties to Putnam included on the list are Clay, Hendricks, Owen, Parke, Montgomery and Morgan.

Also specifically requested by the governor for federal grants to aid government and certain non-profit organizations are the counties of Allen, Benton, Blackford, Boone, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, DeKalb, Delaware, Elkhart, Fountain, Fulton, Grant, Hamilton, Hancock, Henry, Howard, Huntington, Jasper, Jay, Johnson, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Lake, LaPorte, Madison, Marion, Miami, Newton, Noble, Rush, Shelby, Sullivan, Tipton, Vanderburgh, Vermillion, Vigo, Wabash, Warren, Wells, White and Whitley.

Federal grants for the severe winter storm for governments and certain non-profit organizations are under the FEMA designation of public assistance.

If approved, the grants would pay 75 percent of eligible expenses including debris and snow removal, emergency protective measures such as search and rescue, and damage to buildings and equipment.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: