Report: Prince George's Storm Costs Total $7.3 Million

Between damages, overtime and economic losses, the Gazette is reporting that the microburst on June 22 and the derecho on June 29 will cost Prince George’s County about $7.3 million. 

Officials say first responders and county personnel were dealing with recovery efforts well into July, according to The Gazette. 

 reportedly caused about $3.5 million in structural damage, and , which caused , will have a financial impact of about $10 million in Prince George’s, Samuel Wynkoop, director of the county’s Department of Environmental Resources (DER), told The Gazette. 

However, the county appears to have fallen short of the requirement for federal assistance. 

About $7.7 million worth of uninsured damage to public infrastructure or extraordinary staffing must occur for a county to be eligible to receive funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Gazette reported.

“Your normal staffing won’t be covered but what they’ll be looking at is if you kept people on for 12-hour shifts instead of 10-hour shifts in response,” said Ed McDonough, a spokesperson for the state’s emergency management agency, in an interview with The Gazette.

County agencies are covering overtime, extra staffing and equipment costs out of their current budgets. Thomas Himler, deputy chief administration officer for Budget, Finance and Administration, told the Gazette the department will continue to monitor county finances to determine whether adjustments should be made.