Hamilton County property owners who suffered damage in the July flooding will not receive federal disaster aid. The county's damage assessment found only nine properties with "major damage," far below the 25-property threshold FEMA requires for a disaster declaration.

As we reported July 29, the county needed at least 25 properties to meet FEMA's threshold. The Hamilton County Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency assessed 118 properties, including 89 residences and 29 businesses, according to WVXU. Eight properties in Cincinnati and one in Fairfax qualified as major damage. Most were classified as needing only "minimal repairs." None were destroyed.

"We knew going in that disaster eligibility was unlikely," Assistant Cincinnati Fire Chief Matthew Flagler said Tuesday, Aug. 4. "That sounds like we didn't have any impacts, or we had a very minimal event, and we know that's not true."

What happened

Storms on July 17 dropped five to six inches of rain over three hours, killing one person and injuring three others. The National Weather Service classified it as a 1,000-year storm event near Norwood. Flash flooding and sewer backups hit portions of Cincinnati, Fairfax, Madeira, Norwood, St. Bernard and Silverton. Additional storms on July 19 and July 21 worsened conditions.

The Metropolitan Sewer District received nearly 2,000 reports of water intrusion; about 1,200 were officially deemed sewer backups, meaning the combined sewer system pushed raw sewage back into basements through toilets and floor drains.

Relief options still on the table

With federal money off the table, two city-funded programs are stepping in.

Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval directed the city to prepare a $1 million fund for business owners affected by flooding, drawn from previously allocated small-business support dollars. That fund does not require City Council approval.

City Council is set to vote Wednesday, Aug. 5, on an additional $1 million for residents. The emergency ordinance would transfer the money from the General Fund's "Reserve for Weather Events, Other Emergency and One-Time Needs" account. Both funds will be managed through MSD. Residents who already reported flooding or a sewer backup to MSD do not need to apply separately.

The city activated a hotline at 513-323-7995 for people who have not yet contacted MSD. It is open 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. As of Monday, Aug. 3, the city had received 67 calls.

What about communities outside Cincinnati?

Hamilton County EMA Director Nick Crossley told county commissioners the week of July 28 that other funding avenues may exist for communities outside Cincinnati city limits, but they would fall outside emergency management auspices. One possibility is the federal Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, though federal emergency management funding has been cut dramatically and would likely require matching funds from local municipalities.

Pureval's office told WVXU on Tuesday that the city is still pursuing "all avenues of relief at the state level."