WASHINGTON, D.C. – United States Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today announced that the Ohio Department of Job and Family Service (ODJFS) will receive $1,507,168 in national emergency grant (NEG) funding for clean-up and recovery efforts still necessary after the 2007 flooding in Northwest Ohio.

“Although this flooding occurred more than two years ago, Ohioans are still reminded of the damage it caused,” Brown said. “These funds will support efforts to help Northwest Ohio communities recover and rebuild.”

In August 2007, Northwest Ohio experienced the worst flooding since 1913. On Sept. 11, 2007, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declared the following seven counties in Ohio eligible for FEMA's Public Assistance Program: Allen, Crawford, Hancock, Hardin, Putnam, Richland and Wyandot. The ODJFS was awarded an initial grant in 2008, which was extended in December of that year.

“The NEG project in Northwest Ohio has had a beneficial impact on our community at multiple levels,” Putnam County Commissioners, John Love, Travis Jewers and Vincent Schroeder said in a joint statement. “ It has put long term unemployed people to work, provided training and skill building while on the job, and increased opportunities for permanent employment once they are finished in the NEG project.  It has allowed for the continued clean up of debris and removal of large restrictive log jams that were a result of a devastating flood in August 2007.  Without NEG funding this work would not be possible due to across the board budget reductions that our local government is facing in today’s economy.” 

Brown is an outspoken advocate in Congress for flood mitigation and recovery efforts. Following the catastrophe, Brown toured the flooded region, visiting Shelby, Bucyrus, and Findlay. He also led an Ohio congressional delegation letter in support of the Ohio’s application for NEG funding. After Northwest Ohio was wrecked by a second devastating flood in a six month span in February 2008, Brown called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to expedite a flood mitigation study for the region. In June of this year, Brown secured $500,000 in the Energy and Water Appropriations Act of 2010, part of which was directed toward critical infrastructure projects to protect water resources and promote flood mitigation. 

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