2 Ohio cities get funding for tornado clean-up

Officials approve $25,000 for Jerry City, Cloverdale

12/17/2013

COLUMBUS — A state budgetary panel on Monday signed off on $25,000 in aid to Jerry City in Wood County and Cloverdale in Putnam County to help pay for the cities’ clean-up after tornadoes that swept through northwest Ohio on Nov. 17.

Damages weren’t enough to warrant a presidential disaster declaration, so Gov. John Kasich authorized supplemental help to the local governments to help cover public works employee overtime costs, debris removal, and landfill fees.

The Ohio Controlling Board, a legislative panel chaired by a member of Mr. Kasich’s administration, approved the transfer of moneys to the State Disaster Relief fund. The state will pay 75 percent of the cities’ total $33,334 in estimated costs under the terms of the program.

To be eligible for the funds, the cities had to declare emergencies and find that their cleanup costs exceeded 0.5 percent of their total annual budgets, minus debt service and bonds. Jerry City and Cloverdale were the only cities to request the emergency funds.

A series of tornadoes and storms swept through the region on the afternoon of Nov. 17. Five tornado touchdowns were confirmed by the National Weather Service.

The Jerry City tornado had reported winds of 86 to 110 mph. The tornado that caused damage in Cloverdale started in neighboring Paulding County.

Another traveled from Perrysburg to Oregon, destroying a drive-in movie screen and damaging buildings, while a fourth touched down near Yeasting Road and State Route 590 near Elmore in Ottawa County.

A fifth touched down near the intersection of Elm Sugar Road and Doner Road in Van Wert County, reaching wind speeds of 100 mph.