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2008 Emergency Flood Meeting

Two weeks ago, many parts of Indiana, including Johnson County, suffered severe weather that most Indiana residents had never experienced. No buildings were immune from the rushing torrents of water; schools, homes, offices and even hospitals experienced massive damage and were forced to make emergency evacuations and preparations to keep life running as smoothly as possible.

Seeing the need for immediate action, Representative Burton began preparing an emergency town hall meeting to bring all levels of government together: local, state and federal. Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Homeland Security, Red Cross and the Small Business Administration were also present.

About 300 residents from Johnson County came to Scott Hall of the County Fairgrounds to listen to service professionals as well as local officials for advice on how to navigate the aid application process.

As the meeting began, each agency spoke about the qualifications and requirements for receiving aid, as well as speaking about their organization’s specific role in the recovery process. Congressman Steve Buyer also spoke to the crowd easing concerns about the availability and timeliness of aid. Family and Social Services Administration Director Mitch Roob was also present to address the needs of FSSA clients.

After each organization had the chance to speak, tables were setup and individual questions were addressed by each group. As lines formed behind each of the differing tables for local, state, federal agencies Representative Burton saw warm hearts and helping hands extended to Hoosiers in need of assistance as they began to reconstruct what had been destroyed. The number of people and organizations who came to help was amazing. News organizations of every variety were kind enough to carry relief information through their print and airwaves. Representative Burton was particularly pleased with the Daily Journal who kept up-to-date information on their front page each and every day, and offered free papers to those who were without.

The county emergency management administrator, Tug Sutton, has worked day and night, and continues to do so to get emergency response to as many people as quickly as possible from one end of the county to the other. The county councilors continue to restore local government to full-working order after their office space was severely damaged and destroyed. The mayors of Franklin and Greenwood were instrumental in coordinating aid in the hours immediately following the downpour, and have continued to work cooperatively; sharing squad cars, personnel and other resources to ensure the protection of the people. There are countless individuals who deserve praise for stepping up, including those who came from other parts of the state and even country.

In times of peril and distress it is comforting to see so much goodwill and help extended to those in need. It was a wonder to see the spirit of Hoosiers helping Hoosiers at a time when it was needed most.

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