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With the governor's disaster declaration in place, Fort Dodge and Webster County have access to state aid for recovery efforts after the May 16 heavy winds.
"Anything under the state level, we can get that resource at no cost," said Scott Forbes, Webster County emergency management coordinator.
But thanks to cooperation between the city and county and Fort Dodge's response plan, there might not be any need for any state aid, Forbes said.
Forbes reported to the Webster County Board of Supervisors on the aid available at its regular meeting Tuesday. Supervisor Mark Campbell also had high praise for the county workers and the volunteers who helped out after the storm.
For example, Forbes said, if the county needs more trucks, that would be an Iowa Department of Transportation request. The state also has saw teams which could respond.
The city had a plan and dealt with the damage swiftly, Forbes said.
"The city decided to keep it in-house," Forbes said. "They were pretty much able to handle it."
An emergency operations center was set up to bring together key stakeholders like the mayor, the city manager, the city parks department, the county sheriff and county engineer.
Routes throughout the city were cleared up by Wednesday, Forbes said. Some DOT signs were used Tuesday night, and Webster County dump trucks assisted Fort Dodge and some small towns.
"Moorland and Callender had some damage, and I believe Vincent," Forbes said.
Gov. Terry Branstad declared the county a disaster on Thursday, one day after the Board of Supervisors made its declaration. Included in the declaration is a provision suspending two sections of the Iowa Code that allow for bidding requirements to help Iowa Central Community College repair storm damage.
The college had extensive roof damage to Hodges Field House and the Hanson Center, as well as a number of rooftop air conditioning and heating units being knocked over.
The governor's declaration means the state could seek a presidential disaster declaration, which would allow the use of Federal Emergency Management Agency funds. However, FEMA only kicks in after a threshold of $4.3 million in damage to public buildings and property is reached statewide, and Forbes said that isn't likely to be reached.
"Right now two counties are reported. One county has only reported $9,000 so far towards that," Forbes said. "Right now Webster County, including the college as of this morning, we are only at half a million dollars."
The college likely saw several million dollars worth of damage, but most of that is covered by insurance and doesn't count toward that threshold, he said.
Campbell thanked citizens who volunteered to help out with cleanup, and county workers who put in extra hours.
"Public health was walking around and handing out flyers, giving food to people," he said. "They walked door to door and were making sure people on WIC had milk."
Hy-Vee put together food packets which public health paid for, he added.
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In other business, the supervisors approved installing a stop sign at an uncontrolled intersection of two gravel roads. Northbound and southbound traffic will now stop on Brushy Creek Road when crossing 240th Street, east of Brushy Creek State Recreation Area.
This will better serve traffic due to "terrain, vegetation and development, which limit sight distance," Webster County Engineer Randy Will said.
The supervisors also approved a change order of $12,970.80 for the work being done at the Webster County Social Services Building at 330 First Ave N.
About $9,900 of this was due to crews discovering an underground vault which had to be removed, Webster County Supervisor Merrill Leffler said.
Jensen Builders Ltd., of Fort Dodge, is installing a new paved parking lot at the building for an estimated cost of $334,825.