Financial assistance for Shasta flood victims remains uncertain

On the night of a Dec. 21 winter storm in Redding, Donnie Red, the owner of Northstate Tire & Wheel on Westside Road, drove across town to help some friends whose power went out. It didn’t cross his mind that his tire shop might’ve also been affected by the flooding.

Early the next morning, he got several calls saying that his shop looked flooded. When he checked it out himself, he found some areas inside the building with up to four feet of water. The sales counter, which had held phone and computer systems, was tipped over into the water, and boxes of wheels were scattered throughout the flooded mess.

After the water subsided, Red had to throw away dozens of tires, start cleaning hundreds more and make plans for repairing the rest of the facilities. He said as a small business owner, it’s already hard enough to keep his head above water when business is operating as usual. Now he’s estimating that repairs will cost between $80,000 and $100,000. 

“When things are already tight before something like this happens, you don’t really have a whole lot of choice other than just [trying] to keep going,” Red said. “It’s pretty difficult.” 

Flooding last month damaged a still undeclared number of businesses and residences in Redding, and some business owners like Red have been struggling to find the funding needed to get back on their feet. He said he’s been hoping the city would provide financial assistance to businesses that were severely affected by the flooding, or at least provide easily accessible resources for where to find help. But for residents and business owners in both the city and other parts of Shasta County, it’s still uncertain if funding will be available for flood victims.

On social media and in press releases, the city has encouraged residents and businesses to fill out a form to report flood damage, but officials haven’t released any information about potential financial assistance residents or business owners could receive, where it might come from or when they should expect to hear back about funding — other than stating that the information gathered in the city’s flood form will be shared with state agencies to determine potential funding. 

Shasta County hasn’t provided the public with much information, either. Over the nearly three weeks since flooding occurred, the entity has barely shared information on social media or on its website about resources for people affected by the flood. While the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office has provided some information about potential funding assistance, it’s only been similar information about how to report flood damage for possible financial support. 

The lack of information provided by the city and county about funding assistance might be due in part to the uncertainty around whether Shasta will actually be granted funding by the state and what that timeline would look like.

The Shasta Sheriff’s Office is the entity that compiled the flood damage information that’s being reported to state officials, who will decide whether Shasta is eligible for funding assistance or not, according to sheriff’s office’s spokesperson Tim Mapes. 

He told Shasta Scout in an email statement that after the board of supervisors ratified the sheriff’s emergency declaration at the end of December, both the city of Redding and Shasta County published media releases to encourage the public to report flood damage. The reported information was compiled and reviewed by the sheriff’s office, and it’s being presented to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) to determine if Shasta is eligible to receive financial assistance, he said. 

The deadline for the public to report flood damage was Jan. 8. That deadline was set locally, Mapes explained, saying that once the county requests assistance from the state it has only three days to submit the information needed for consideration, adding that the county initiated a request for assistance from the state on Jan. 5.

Information about flood impacts can no longer be submitted to the city of Redding and the county now that Jan. 8 has passed, Mapes said, because reporting is already in progress. For those who missed the reporting deadline, Mapes said volunteer groups in the area may offer assistance and have their own processes in place to report damage, and that 211 has information about how to contact those organizations. 

Mapes said it’s uncertain by what date the county will hear back about whether any assistance will be received from the state. “At this time, we do not know if we will receive any assistance,” he said, “and we do not know what form the assistance would be in, if any is provided at all.” 

Cal OES did not respond to specific questions about how long the evaluation process will take, what types of assistance Shasta County may receive if deemed eligible or the threshold of eligibility Shasta has to meet in order to receive assistance. The office instead reaffirmed that it was working with the county to evaluate damage assessments and recovery needs, saying eligibility for funding depends on a number of factors, including damage assessments, cost estimates and program-specific criteria.

“Until the evaluation process is complete, we are unable to confirm whether eligibility thresholds have been met or what types of assistance may be available,” a Cal OES spokesperson said.

Any financial assistance for business owners or residents, if given, wouldn’t be administered through the city of Redding, said city of Redding Communications Manager Katie Hunter in an email statement, as it would only be administered through county, state or federal programs. Hunter confirmed that the city also has no known timeline as to when the public will hear back about financial assistance, but said once information is available, the county and city will share it on its communication platforms. 

Those who have been impacted by the flooding are encouraged to connect with local resources, Hunter added, including the American Red Cross, California Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, Legal Services of Northern California, Northern Valley Catholic Social Services and the Lions Club. 

---

Do you have a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.