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County's Fay Damage Total Hits $58M

POSTED: Saturday, August 23, 2008
UPDATED: 11:38 am EDT August 23, 2008

With Fay's damage totals in Brevard County climbing over the $58 million mark, federal damage assessment teams have completed their survey prompting Gov. Charlie Crist to ask President George W. Bush to make residents eligible for federal financial assistance.


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Fay's wrath in total losses to the county is expected to rise, since the initial damage assessment does not include damage to roads, drainage, infrastructure and other public facilities, and does not include damage assessments projections for Cocoa, Local 6 News partner Florida Today reported.

"We spent a lot of time in Cocoa and Merritt Island today," said Jeff Welsh, spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. "There were pockets where there was obvious flood damage."

"I think we've finished this part of the process," he continued.

Despite some confusion Friday caused by a local television station about whether FEMA already was providing financial assistance, the federal agency must wait until the president approves the request. Crist could not make a request until he had access to the assessment team's report, Florida Today reported.

"We've received over 500 phone calls," said Dianna Gee, spokeswoman for FEMA's regional office in Atlanta. "But we haven't been authorized for assistance yet."

Earlier this week, the state received an emergency declaration that provided federal underwriting for debris clearance and other storm-related steps.

Preliminary damage estimates for Brevard County, where Fay lingered earlier in the week, included more than 1,500 homes with at least some damage and 155 mobile homes destroyed, officials said. Nearly 800 mobile homes were still inaccessible. The preliminary dollar value of the damage countywide: $53 million.

Welsh said homeowners should be patient and wait for the process to finish. But unremitting heavy rains Friday continued to cause fresh damage.

In Port St. John, raw sewage spilled out near U.S. 1 and Fay Boulevard after a lift station failed. The county worked late Friday to keep the sewage from pouring into the Indian River through the stormwater drains.

In Palm Shores, a road that collapsed on Thursday deteriorated further Friday, threatening several homes and stranding nearly 50 residents.

"We are hoping that the EOC (Emergency Operations Center) will put this as a No. 1 priority in the county for FEMA help," Mayor Carol McCormack said.

Many residents of Stratford Drive in West Cocoa wondered what kind of public assistance they would get.

"I'm praying someone comes to our rescue," said resident Loretta Bell.

The preliminary estimate of damage to Brevard Public Schools reached $1 million and could increase after further assessments, according to district spokesman Wes Sumner. The brunt of the damage occurred at Clearlake Middle School in Cocoa. The first floor of the school flooded. An emergency contractor is removing the water and cleaning up the mess.

Municipalities continued gathering information to estimate storm damage, but few made formal announcements.

Cocoa Beach officials said they were lucky to have only about $500,000 in damage to houses and city property. Titusville officials said damage to city-owned property topped $825,000.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.

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