ANDERSON — The cost of cleaning up downed power lines, fishing tree limbs from area rivers and repairing wind-damaged government buildings in Madison County may be reimbursed by the federal government.

President George Bush declared Madison County a disaster area on Tuesday, adding the county to a list of Indiana communities under water after a week of relentless rain storms.

The declaration gives the county access to Federal Emergency Management Agency dollars in the wake of the damaging storms.

Compared to southern Indiana communities fighting raging rivers with sand bags and levees, Madison County has fared well, according to C.R. Brown of the Madison County Emergency Management Agency.

The county has secured around $100,000 in damage from the flooding and high winds, Brown said.

Numbers are still being gathered to determine final estimates on damage, but Brown said individual property owners will not see the same reimbursement plan offered to local governments.

Instead of handing over money for damage repairs, FEMA offers loans to individual property owners. “We're not going to give you money; you're going to get a loan,” Brown said.

Those with insurance on damaged properties are ineligible for FEMA assistance, he said.

How does an area become a disaster area?

Disaster declarations and assistance stem from the 1988 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, according to FEMA.

The act establishes the protocol for securing a disaster declaration. It requires that all requests for declarations be made by the state’s governor.

Gov. Mitch Daniels, according to the act, must make the case for assistance, showing the severity of damage to the affected area.

According to Brown, Indiana had to show proof of more than $7 million in damage to qualify for the assistance. Madison County, he said, was required to represent more than $100,000 in damage.

Both requirements were met this week after Monday’s storms.

The president then decides if an effective response to the disaster is beyond the capabilities of the state.