Rita-damaged state park eligible for FEMA funding
COX EAST TEXAS
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
LUFKIN — Flood insurance requirements at Sabine Pass Battleground State Park, destroyed by Hurricane Rita in September, will be waived, FEMA said Monday afternoon.
Ericka Lopez, public affairs officer with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said in an e-mail interview that the insurance requirement will be waived because of the nature of the damage, which is not normally insurable.
"That's good news," said Steve Whiston, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department infrastructure spokesman.
Until Monday, Whiston said parks and wildlife staff members were still working under a directive from the governor's office of emergency management advising them that the uninsured Sabine Pass Battlegrounds State Park was ineligible for FEMA funding.
Now the question is whether FEMA's waiver of insurance for Sabine Pass Battleground State Park will apply to other state parks, Whiston said.
Lopez said sites damaged by Rita are neither insured nor enrolled in a FEMA-approved, self-insured program. Parks and wildlife considers itself a self-funded state agency and wasn't allowed to carry insurance until just recently.
Nationwide, Whiston said, most state parks don't carry insurance.
"It was never an issue for us in the past, never an issue for FEMA in the past," Whiston said. "Insurance of that type is so cost prohibitive, it's (better) for us to bite the bullet."
Except when a hurricane batters state park after state park or blows a forest across several others.
Not long after Hurricane Rita struck, federal emergency management officials authorized parks and wildlife to evaluate hurricane damage and submit a bill for repair costs. According to both agencies, FEMA promised parks and wildlife it would either reimburse the state for 75 percent of its hurricane clean-up costs or up to $2.3 million.
As of last week, Whiston said, FEMA had responded to three of its submissions — Sabine Pass, Lake Houston and Mission Tejas.
In the latter two cases, disagreement between the two agencies as to the extent of damage and necessary repairs will be decided by the state, Lopez said.
Rita repair costs at Texas state parks
Martin Dies Jr. — $502,314
Sea Rim — $483,603
Sabine Pass — $291,709
Village Creek — $66,724
Lake Livingston — $155,475
Lake Houston — $12,960
Mission Tejas — $91,349
Emergency Preparedness — $73,000
Total — $1.67 million
Source: Tom Harvey, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department spokesman
