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Dallas council approves $60 million in tornado cleanup spending

City of Dallas anticipating federal disaster declaration to help offset cleanup costs

DALLAS — The Dallas City Council on Wednesday approved up to $60 million in spending to help offset uninsured losses resulting from a tornado that tore an 11.5-mile path through north Dallas last month.

During a city council briefing, city staff said the City of Dallas has already incurred $30 million in cost from damaged traffic signals and signage. 

Combined with $8 million for debris removal and another $2 million for protective emergency services, the city is confident it will meet the $38.5 million threshold for public assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

A FEMA disaster declaration and approval by the president would allow the federal government and the city to split the cost of uninsured losses 75/25.

RELATED: 10 tornadoes in North Texas caused an estimated $2 billion in damage, insurers say

Rocky Vaz, Dallas' director of emergency management, says it's important the city received support from the federal government during storm recovery.

"We feel pretty good about the numbers," Vaz said. "We’re being very realistic on what it costs and backed it up with documentation, we are confident that we’ve given them everything they need.”

Vaz also received universal praise from city council members and mayor Eric Johnson for the work of the Office of Emergency Management in the immediate aftermath of the EF3 storm.

"It was a model response," Johnson said Wednesday.

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