How federal assistance will aid Nashville bombing recovery

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the type of assistance available from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the wake of the Christmas Day bombing.

The White House approved federal assistance funding for Nashville's recovery in response to the Christmas Day bombing. 

Lawmakers have called the emergency declaration, approved Tuesday, the "first step" in starting to rebuild the historic Second Avenue stretch that was the seat of the explosion. 

The funds released this week are earmarked as backup for local government needs.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved an “emergency declaration” this week, after Gov. Bill Lee requested the assistance on Dec. 26.

"We are grateful for the support from President Trump and our federal delegation," Lee said Tuesday. "These federal resources will help the Nashville community recover from this tragic event."

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The declaration can include costs to Metro Nashville-Davidson County for firefighting, search and rescue operations, emergency operations center activation, medical care and transport, evacuation and sheltering, safety inspections and area security.

It allows federal funding up to 75% of the cost for those services, if needed.

If any funds are to be allocated for individual assistance, a further request will need to be made by Lee and would only come after ongoing assessments of damage and need are completed.

“When you cannot go in as a county government and do a proper damage assessment because it is a crime scene, you have to wait until that scene is cleared before you can go in and properly assess the damage done to public infrastructure in order to submit it in a request to the federal government for a major disaster declaration,” said Dean Fleaner, executive officer for external relations with the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.

“In the absence of being able to do that, what was submitted to the federal government was a request for an emergency declaration. And an emergency declaration is what we received.”

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The emergency declaration was approved Jan. 5 under the Public Assistance program, a FEMA spokesperson confirmed. Although Tennessee lawmakers referred to the declaration as a major disaster, the approvals are two very different processes.

“[The emergency declaration] authorizes the federal government to provide the local government jurisdiction, Metro Nashville-Davidson County, with direct federal support,” said FEMA External Affairs Specialist Danon Lucas in an email. “It does not provide assistance to individuals.”

Federal regulations say that “when the state and local government lack the capability to perform or to contract for eligible emergency work and/or debris … the grantee may request that the work be accomplished by a federal agency.”

For example, if the Army Corps of Engineers had been called in to help deal with the damage inflicted by the bombing, Fleaner said, the federal government would pay the majority of the cost for their presence and work, with the last quarter coming from Metro.

Nashville is still a ways off from individual assistance that could come if a major disaster declaration is approved down the road.

That help relies on a complex interplay between local, state and federal government bodies.

It's possible that for residents and business owners in the affected area there could be a gap between what individual insurance policies cover and what is needed to truly make them whole in the recovery process. 

"The mayor is aware that there's a gap, or that there could very well be a gap for property owners, based on what they find out from their insurance companies, and is exploring every possible avenue to bring additional assistance," mayor's office spokesperson Andrea Fanta said Thursday. 

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Metro Codes has inspected all the structures in the area around the blast site and will report damage as defined by FEMA guidelines. But the federal agency is not just looking for physical damage. The assessments take into account the financial hit of the disaster.

How many homes are completely destroyed? How many of those homes are completely uninsured? Underinsured? What is the economic circumstances of the area impacted, such as the poverty level, the unemployment level and other types of socioeconomic criteria?

“FEMA is looking for a couple of things. Once FEMA makes its determination as to whether or not the damage assessments meet individual assistance criteria, it will decide to award that or not,” Fleaner said. “It is often very difficult to get individualized assistance.”

FEMA also uses per capita loss thresholds to calculate the damages and losses incurred by one or more counties as the result of a disaster, Fleaner said. The total per capita losses to one or more counties must meet or surpass the threshold for the state in order to meet the needs of a request for a major disaster.

In very localized disasters, where critical facilities including major roadways, bridges, public buildings or similar structures are affected, FEMA may determine that the impact warrants federal assistance, even if the overall impact for the county or state would diffuse and be low in comparison.

Also, FEMA considers the amount of insurance coverage that is in force or should have been in force as required by law and regulation at the time of the disaster, and reduces the amount of anticipated assistance by that amount.

The loss calculation has not yet been made in the wake of the Nashville bombing. A request from Lee for a formal major disaster declaration would come after the assessments are completed. 

Davidson County’s loss threshold is $2,437,789.09 and the state’s is $9,836,462.75, according to documents shared by TEMA.

For the March 3 tornado in Nashville, FEMA reports that $2,825,116.35 in financial assistance has been disbursed to 787 individual assistance applicants, as well as $15,332,872.25 in public assistance grants. 

TEMA continues to work with FEMA on recovery assistance, Lee's office said, and the U.S. Small Business Administration on economic assistance that may be available through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.

The SBA loan program can be implemented in conjunction with a FEMA major disaster declaration but isn't always tied to one, Fleaner said.

"They wait for the damage assessment information to come in," he said. "FEMA can get it, the SBA can get it and they can both look at a thorough and complete accounting of the day. The economic injury disaster loans, if awarded, can provide direct loan assistance to those economically impacted by the disaster, including business owners and workers. But it's a long program."

Timelines for releasing funds can vary widely. 

"A lot of community groups and nonprofits have stepped up, because that's what Nashville does," Fanta said. "That, right now, is the most immediate assistance to property and business owners."

"There is not a normal timeline when it comes to FEMA declaring a disaster. It's been different in every disaster we have ever had," Fleaner said.

After the May 2010 flood, Fleaner said the damage and impact to individuals was so widespread that the disaster was awarded quickly.

"But other disasters where we've seen widespread impact and we've seen it take time to get everything in, and to get everything into FEMA and have them review and look at it and do their audits," he said. "It varies disaster to disaster in terms of how long it takes from request to award."

Reach reporter Mariah Timms at mtimms@tennessean.com or 615-259-8344 and on Twitter @MariahTimms.