On Saturday, Governor Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency in several counties in northeast Ohio after Tuesday’s storms caused extensive damage to communities and power outages.

The state of emergency applies to the following eight counties:

• Ashtabula
• Cuyahoga
• Geauga
• lake
• Lorraine
• Portage
• summit
• Trumbull

“Declaring a state of emergency gives the state the ability to provide rapid assistance to these communities. At this time, we do not have any open requests for services the state can provide to our communities following these storms,” ​​DeWine said. “However, we are here for the duration of the emergency measures and will continue to help Northeast Ohio communities recover from the damage left by the storm should we receive new requests for services the state can provide.”
Previously, Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne had urged DeWine to take this step, pointing out that the need for additional funding and resources justified waiving the thresholds.

To be eligible for assistance, a county would need to raise $5.9 million in relief costs.

On Friday, DeWine issued a proclamation requesting assistance, saying: “All departments and agencies of the state shall stand by and utilize their personnel and resources as needed to protect the lives, safety, health and property of Ohioans and to assist in recovery efforts in communities affected by this severe weather, if necessary and requested by local authorities.”

In addition to the emergency declaration, DeWine said he has asked the state’s emergency management director to request that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) come to the area and conduct a damage assessment.

DeWine said federal assistance so far has focused on mobile oxygen generators provided by the Ohio Department of Health.

Other state agencies are monitoring the situation in Northeast Ohio, and county emergency management agencies (EMA) are working with communities to conduct damage assessments for possible reimbursement.

The district EMAs will then forward their requests for assistance to the respective state’s EMA, DeWine said.

“I encourage local authorities in need of assistance to contact their county emergency management agencies,” DeWine said.