Several Nevada counties estimate storm damage totals over $20 million

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - An atmospheric river swept through Northern Nevada on March 9th, wrecking havoc across the state.

Several counties have reported repair estimates which when combined, total over $20 million dollars.

“The counties can actually place the damages on a map and give a little description of the damage and estimate the cost of that damage,” said Jared Franco, the CFO of the Nevada Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

Franco says damage assessment teams are then sent out to those locations to verify the estimate.

“Federal FEMA personnel, DEM personnel and then two engineers, one from the state and one from Carson County,” Franco said of the teams.

Teams have already started these appraisals which can often be completed within one day.

“They visited Douglas on Monday, Lyon County on Tuesday, traveled to Eureka on Wednesday and now they’re traveling to Lincoln County and Churchill County today,” he said.

Storey County and Mineral County have also made official requests for assessments.

Franco says in order for a county to be allotted recovery money, they need to meet a certain threshold. That limit is usually dependant on factors like population.

Nevada also needs to meet a statewide threshold. While the numbers have yet to be federally certifited, Franco believes the threshold will be easily surpassed.

“It’s looking pretty good that we’ve met our threshold of $5.5 [million],” Franco said.

DEM does not provide repair teams, their jobs is to allocate funds. Franco says once the money is distributed, it’s up to individual counties to secure contractors for the physical damage repair.

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