Cherokee TV

FEMA Denies Appeal for Disaster Assistance

CTV Staff
Friday, July 25, 2008

The appeal for federal disaster relief funding for Cherokee County residents and businesses recovering from the May 20 tornado and wind damage has been turned down.

Cherokee Sheriff's Office of Emergency Management Director Robby Westbrook announced the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) told Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue that the appeal for assistance had been rejected.

"We reaffirm our original finding that the impact from this event is not the severity and magnitude that warrants a major disaster declaration," FEMA Director David Paulison stated in a letter to the governor.

Almost $3 million of uninsured damage reportedly was caused by the storm that damaged hundreds of homes in central and southern Cherokee.

Cherokee County and state officials are requesting that the Small Business Administration (SBA) make a disaster declaration for the county in hopes of the SBA providing low interest loans to qualified citizens who suffered losses in the May 20 storm, Westbrook said.

"We are very disappointed in FEMA's decision, but hopefully SBA will provide some assistance to our citizens," Westbrook said.