STORM REPAIR Ohioans seek help to pay for damage

Figures are expected to rise in the coming days and weeks.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- More than 36,500 homeowners, businesses and others have applied for federal help to repair damage from wind and floods in five weeks of repeated late spring storms in 23 eastern Ohio counties. Total expenses for government and private insurers have topped $200 million and are growing.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has granted $13.3 million as of Thursday for housing assistance, including repairs or rent for temporary housing.
The Small Business Administration also has issued $5.7 million in low-interest loans to 459 individuals and businesses for property damage, belongings, inventory and business expenses caused by the repeated storms from May 18 to June 21. Another 500 applications are being processed, spokesman Frank Adinolfe said.
"Those figures will continue to rise in the days and weeks ahead," FEMA spokesman Eugene Brezany said. Even though the deadline to apply for federal grants has passed, the government will keep evaluating the cases as new expenses come up.
"We're not leaving town just because we've closed the applications period," he said.
Claims
A total of $21 million in aid has been approved, plus up to $12 million for local governments to repair bridges, roads, sewer plants and other public works property.
Private insurers paid $167 million on 44,000 claims as of late June for home and auto damage, according to the latest figures available from the Ohio Insurance Institute. Not all insurers participated in the industry group's survey.
"Some folks maybe haven't filed claims yet," spokeswoman Mary Bonelli said. Most policies allow up to one year to file a claim.
The numbers also don't include flood damage covered by the National Flood Insurance Program. Ohio claim numbers weren't yet available Thursday.
Heavy promotion of Monday's deadline to apply for federal grants worked, Brezany said. About 100 people a day applied over the last few weeks of July, he said. That doubled in the final week when the agency started daily announcements of how many days were left.
On Monday, the last day, 537 people called, then just 11 on Tuesday.
More than 35,000 of the claims involved damage to homes. The rest were for businesses and people who lost wages when the storms closed their workplaces.