President Obama made disaster funding available to the state of Missouri on Friday after a summer of severe storms. Governor Nixon said the weather caused an estimated $38 million in damages.
Federal aid is available to help the recovery in areas affected by tornadoes, high winds and flooding between May 15 and July 27.
The funding is largely for public infrastructure like roads and bridges that were damaged in the weather. Additionally, funding is available to help pay overtime for response departments like police and fire.
The federal government will shoulder 75 percent of these costs, with state and local governments covering the rest.
According to Scott Holste, the spokesperson for Governor Jay Nixon, the damage was due to both high precipitation and severe weather events.
"So there was a number of significant weather events but it also included things like hail, high winds, and regular flooding with rising waters in addition to flash flooding," Holste said. "So we got hit pretty hard on a number of different weather fronts this summer."
Holste said that to get public assistance, the state had to incur more than $25 million in damages.
The declaration includes 68 counties, the most counties in a disaster declaration in Missouri since the Great Flood of 1993. This has been the second wettest May through July on record in Missouri according to the University of Missouri Climate Center.
