VIDALIA — Flood preparation work done by the City of Vidalia and Concordia Parish will be eligible for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and cleanup work may soon be extended the same courtesy.

FEMA and Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness officials met with parish officials Friday to answer questions and offer advice.

Homeland Security Disaster Recovery Technical Services Section Chief John Gonzales explained there are two types of declarations that FEMA recognizes, emergency and major, and that Concordia Parish has been under an emergency declaration since May 6.

“Gov. Jindal petitioned to have 22 parishes declared an emergency disaster, and May 6 is when it was approved,” he said. “As soon as that happened, it authorized FEMA officials to come in and work with the parishes.”

Gonzales said while the claim was approved May 6, the parishes were up for reimbursement for any damages or preparation expenses that occurred starting April 25 until the declaration ends.

The emergency declaration is still in effect, and Gonzales said it could be another two to three weeks before it is dropped.

On May 13, Gonzales said the governor added an amendment to the declaration that allowed the 22 parishes to file their FEMA claims.

Since then, Gonzales said Concordia Parish has been under a “category B” emergency measure; meaning that the parish will only be reimbursed for any protective measures it has taken against the flood.

“This includes things like shelter operations, emergency power, safety barricades and generators,” he said.

Gonzales said the federal government pays for 75 percent of the cost, while state and local agencies make up the remaining 25 percent of the cost.

While flood preparations are covered, the parish is still not under a “category A” measure, which reimburses local governments for debris removal after an emergency.

While the parish is not currently eligible for those reimbursements, Gonzales said officials requested that the Louisiana parishes have debris removal covered.

“It is not official, but these parishes will most likely have category A added to the declaration,” he said.

Gonzales said it would take approximately a week before Concordia would get word on the addition.

Debris removal would consists of removing Hesco Bastions, sand and all other material or items that currently are in the emergency declaration area, Gonzales said.

In order to prepare for the addition of the category A tag, Gonzales told area leaders that they must begin working to get estimates on how much debris there is in the emergency area so that FEMA knows approximately how much debris there is.

“Once we get those in, FEMA will send out teams to validate that the amount is correct,” he said.

Since the City of Vidalia wants to begin removing debris on the riverfront so that businesses can open back up, city officials wanted to know whether or not they would still be reimbursed for the clean up if they started work before the category A measure was added.

Gonzales said FEMA cannot tell the parish when and what they clean, and if they do work ahead on the debris removal they need to document everything they are doing.

“Make sure you have everything well documented,” he said. “They need to know how much sand was there, where it was moved and who moved it. Take pictures, write down notes, do whatever you can.”

Gonzales said FEMA will also reimburse a portion of labor costs for flood preparation and debris removal in the parish.

Gonzales said FEMA will only reimburse the overtime hours of permanent employees, re-assigned employees and seasonal employees who worked helping prepare or clean up from the flood.

Gonzales also said FEMA will reimburse any material costs used in flood preparations or debris removal to the amount of 75 cents on the dollar.

Gonzales said the parish will also be able to receive help with any projects that need to be worked on once the water begins to decline, such as drainage or road repair.

If the project costs less than $63,900, it is considered a small project, and Gonzales said FEMA will pay the costs upon project approval and that funding for the project is based on the initial cost estimate.

Any project that costs more than $63,900 is considered a large project, and Gonzales said the costs are paid once the project is completed. Funding for the project is based on the actual costs.

While parish and local government agencies have aid available, Concordia Parish Police Jury President Melvin Ferrington said parish residents who had a loss are still not covered, but he is hoping that will change once the water goes down.

“As soon as they get out from under water, we are going to have some FEMA officials come down here and see what can be done,” he said.

Ferrington said the only houses that experienced any damage were on the riverside of the levee near Minorca, Deer Park and Old River, and that the majority of them were summer homes or hunting camps.

“There is going to be some help for people that had permanent homes out there,” he said. “The camps and summer homes, we still aren’t sure about that.”

Ferrington said anyone with flood insurance who experienced any damage should go through their insurance agent, and that he hopes to have FEMA representatives in the area soon to assist area residents who experienced damage.