PLYMOUTH — The Marshall County Commissioners have signed a local disaster declaration, or state of emergency, following last week’s severe weather event.
The commissioners approved the declaration at their August 17th meeting on the recommendation of the Marshall County Emergency Management Agency (EMA). The declaration will be in effect for one week and is set to expire at noon on August 24th.
Over the last week, Marshall County has experienced multiple rounds of severe weather, leading to widespread tree damage, multi-day power outages, and also some flash flooding. Governor Mike Braun has already declared a statewide disaster, with FEMA agreeing to provide emergency response assistance to a number of Indiana counties, including Marshall. Please note that this is NOT assistance directly to impacted Marshall County residents – that determination will be made by President Donald Trump at a later date.
Due to costs related to debris removal, emergency response, and infrastructure damage, Marshall County and its municipalities may also qualify for partial federal reimbursement through the Public Assistance (PA) program. Marshall County EMA has already been in contact with other units of local government to encourage them to track costs associated with the storms. A county must declare a local state of emergency in order to continue through this process.
EMA has also conducted preliminary damage assessments on impacted residential and commercial structures and encourages county residents to continue reporting structural damage that may help the county qualify for Individual Assistance (IA) directly to impacted residents. Damage reports can be emailed to ema@co.marshall.in.us
We are especially thankful for all first responders and utility workers who endured long hours in difficult working conditions in order to keep the public safe. Our thoughts are also with nearby counties that experienced significant wind and flood damage. Incident-related updates will continue to be posted via the Marshall County EMA Facebook page.
