State, federal aid unlikely for flash flooding

Flash flooding last month destroyed one area home and damaged 69 others - probably not enough for state or federal disaster aid.

“It's unlikely we will reach the threshold” for a presidential disaster declaration, said Mike Goldberg, coordinator of the Linn County Emergency Management Agency.

Goldberg said assessment teams dispatched in the wake of the Aug. 27-28 flash floods inspected 297 homes in Linn, Benton and Jones counties. They determined 227 homes were affected, with 66 sustaining minor damage and three major damage. One home was destroyed.

A report on damage to public property is still being prepared, but Goldberg estimated damage in the three counties at just shy of $1 million.

“A large degree of that was trails,” he said.