Logan County to receive over $11 million in Federal Disaster Recovery Funding; Draft now open for public review

Logan County is in line to receive $11.292 million in federal disaster recovery funding to support long-term rebuilding efforts following the March 14, 2024, tornado that caused extensive damage in the Indian Lake area.

The funding will come through the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program, which is administered by the Ohio Department of Development with funding provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The Ohio Department of Development has now released the Draft Action Plan for the CDBG-DR program, and it is available for public review and comment.

The plan outlines how federal disaster recovery funds will be allocated to support housing, infrastructure, and community development needs in regions affected by recent natural disasters, including Logan County.

Local officials are encouraging residents, community leaders, and stakeholders to review the proposed plan and provide feedback.

The draft plan can be accessed HERE.

Logan County Emergency Management Agency Director Helen Norris weighs in on the funding:

“The CDBG-DR grant is a huge step in tornado long-term recovery at the lake. This grant allows Logan County to begin the large-scale rebuilding of infrastructure and housing that was destroyed on that awful day. The CDBG-DR grant does not provide money directly to individuals. It is not a cash grant.

Our Action Plan is focused on four main areas:

Demolition of “standing debris” where the owner could not take it down. This is a huge safety issue, as we have seen pictures of kids climbing into windows of these structures. Once the destroyed structure is removed, the new building can start.
Infrastructure – primarily water and sewer lines that were damaged or destroyed by the tornado, and extending these services to several areas that need it to support additional housing that is desperately needed at the lake.
Single-family home construction – this is being led by Habitat for Humanity. They are an amazing partner in the affordable building of homes. The Long Term Recovery Team will be referring tornado families to Habitat to start the process of qualifying for the program and an interest-free mortgage.
Multifamily low to moderate income housing – we are working with Metropolitan Housing Authority on building some lovely apartments, which are so much needed after the loss of so many rentals and mobile homes.

How did this plan come about? In early April 2024, I convened a group of around 50 people from all areas of the lake and Logan County – elected officials, responders, businesses, and affected individuals. We formed the Community Recovery Planning Team. The team identified seven areas of concern and formed sub-committees to work on recovery plans for them. They were: Housing, Infrastructure, Communications, Transportation, Long Term Recovery, Business, and Miscellaneous Concerns. On May 2nd, 2024, we held an open house at Indian Lake High School and invited everyone to come out and tell us what they needed, wanted, or were concerned about in the recovery from the tornado. That night, 144 people attended the open house and shared their concerns in writing and in person with the committees. After the open house, the committees met and reviewed the public feedback. They reviewed each request, identified if it could be done, what would be needed to do it, and which organization would need to lead the effort. On June 20th, we went back to Indian Lake High School for a second open house to present the Community Recovery Plan and get public feedback on it. Fewer people attended that session, but we only received one suggestion that was not related to the plan. Since then, the plan has been put into written format, and the language has been refined a bit. Several committees have continued to work, and others have concluded. The plan has been submitted to the County Commissioners for review and adoption, if they choose to do that. This grant is part of the answer to how we can do the things that were identified by the community as their greatest needs, wants, and concerns. It won’t complete every project, but it is allowing us to make huge strides forward on the highest priority projects, and they are big things that we did not previously have the money to move forward. It is not an immediate fix for everything. The grant and bid processes will take time, but thanks to the people who worked so hard to build the plan and the people who told us what they needed, we can now move forward toward recovery. The funding for this grant was appropriated by Congress late last year. I appreciate their help for Logan County.”

How Logan County Plans to Use the Funds

The funds are expected to be available by mid- to late-summer.

County officials—including the Logan County Commissioners and the Logan County Emergency Management Agency—will finalize the local implementation plan, open a public comment period, and then submit the proposal for state and federal approval.

The current draft includes:

40% for infrastructure improvements, with a focus on the communities of Russells Point and Lakeview
30% to Logan County Habitat for Humanity to support the construction of 30 new homes
30% for multi-family housing development

Officials are also exploring ways to leverage these funds to meet local match requirements for additional state and federal grants aimed at the Indian Lake area.

All CDBG-DR funds must be fully utilized within three years, and officials believe some projects—such as infrastructure work and Habitat homebuilding—will begin soon after the funds are released.