Flooded out Woodbridge business owners hear relief options

A group of about a dozen Woodbridge business owners who represented roughly 50 jobs met at the Ferlazzo Building Monday to learn about the process of getting back to work after last week’s flooding brought on by Tropical Storm Lee.

Prince William Supervisor Frank J. Principi, D-Woodbridge, called the meeting and brought in representatives from the Small Business Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management as well as heads of county agencies to help the business owners understand how state, local and federal governments might be of service.

The meeting was designed to tell people about timetables for getting help, how damage assessment worked and the process for applying for federal grants and SBA loans.

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Patrick Collins, the Prince William County coordinator of emergency management, explained that the process was already under way with state and federal agencies assessing damage and determining if damage in the area met certain thresholds.

For FEMA to get involved, the damage must reach to $10 million statewide. Damage at the county level must reach $1.3 million.

“Our friends at the state are telling us – not formally – but they’re telling us informally that we meet it,” Collins said.

Collins told the business owners that as the first jurisdiction to request a state of emergency, Prince William County already had most of the assessments done and waiting on the agency to finish assessments in other jurisdictions.

Once all of the assessing is done, Gov. Bob McDonnell, can ask FEMA to go to the president for money.

Collins said he hoped that the assessments would be done within the next week and Gov. Bob McDonnell can then go to FEMA.

“Once it goes to the president, it’s pretty much a rubber stamp because FEMA is telling him that, ‘You need to act on this and you need to do it quickly,’” Collins said.

Virgil Gray, of the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, told the business owners to start getting their paperwork together and said the process was tedious

“We’re about two or three steps into a very involved process, but I know that Prince William and the commonwealth and the federal government will do their absolute best to get you back on your feet and get you through this,”

Cecilia Kage, Small Business Administration, came to let the business owners know that the administration would be on hand to offer low-interest loans if the area meets the criteria for FEMA to mobilized.

Kage also told the audience that it might be good to get things rolling just in case they find they need a loan. 

“There’s a lot of paperwork. It’s not a process that you’re going to do overnight,”Kage said.

She also advised people not to discount the idea that they might need a loan.

“You may not know until you get in there and start fixing things up if you need more money than what your insurance has to offer,” she said.

Wade Hugh, Prince William County director of development services, spoke at the meeting and told the business men and women that the county would assign them project managers to help with getting back to work and navigating through county government rules and regulations.

“One of the most frustrating things for any business owner ... is going through a lot of bureaucratic tape and getting tied up,” Hugh said. 

Rick Jones, of Total Auto Parts, a business on U.S. 1 that was flooded with four feet of water, said a loan wasn’t for him

“Unless we get a grant, nothing matters. Nothing they said makes any difference to me,” the 62-year-old Jones who had planned to retire in five years.

Jones saw the water rising last Thursday evening and stayed in his shop to put things on shelves above the high water that eventually broke a window and flooded his shop.

He said stayed at his shop until the fire department made him leave

He’s still trying to get things cleaned up.

“It’s been like Groundhog Day, every day has been the same. You wake up. You go to work. You clean,” he said.

Frank Stevens, of K&E Small Engine Repair on Easy Street, said he won’t be turning to to the government either.

“I don’t want a loan. I don’t need a grant. I’ll carry on. I’m OK,” he said. 

Senior reporter Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.