The photo information with this story was corrected on Oct. 27, 2011. An explanation follows the story.
More than a month after the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee left much of downtown Upper Marlboro underwater, Frank Kline is still afraid his business might drown.
When Kline’s business, Marlboro Blueprint and Office Supplies, flooded from Sept. 7 to 9, his blueprint-making equipment was destroyed, leaving him with a $1.25 million loss and forcing him to send all of his blueprint orders to his other branches in Waldorf and Lexington Park.
“It’s taken its toll on me,” Kline said. “If you look at the money coming in versus the money going out; it was already bad enough because of the economy, and this really put a pinch on it.”
Although President Obama declared Prince George’s County a disaster area Oct. 5, making state and county governments eligible for 75 percent reimbursement for damage to roads, bridges and public facilities, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a letter to Maryland on Friday denying its application for assistance to individual residents and business owners.
Kline said he hopes the state appeals FEMA’s decision, because he fears without any assistance he might have to shut not only the Upper Marlboro location’s doors, but also all three of his branches.
“If I do go bankrupt, I’d have to shut the other two shops, since they’re all under one corporation,” Kline said. “... The Small Business Administration offers loans for about 1 percent lower [interest] than banks, but I still owe money to the [blueprint equipment company], so then I’d just owe to the SBA as well.”
Eddy Hopkins, director of external affairs for the Maryland Emergency Management Agency, said his agency is going over FEMA’s letter denying individual assistance and will determine whether or not to appeal the decision, which the state must do within 30 days.
“We have 30 days, so we’re going to take a look at why we got denied, whether it be over insufficient information or if there were certain thing FEMA was looking for [in our application],” Hopkins said. “We’re going to meet later this week to decide how best to appeal, at what additional information we may need, or if we don’t appeal, see if there are other resources that may better help the affected citizens.”
Kline said most of the businesses and residents in the area that has spoken with, as well as himself, did not have flood insurance. Kline said flood insurance, which must be obtained separately from other types of insurance and through the federal government, is expensive and, if there is a flood, ineffective.
“They don’t pay you much out of [the total value] if you do have a disaster,” Kline said. “It only covers a very small portion, and you have to be insured separately for the building itself and its content. It’s very cost-inhibitive.”
County Councilman Mel Franklin (D-Dist. 9) of Upper Marlboro, whose district includes the region affected by Lee’s flooding, held a community meeting Tuesday night at Stephen Decatur Middle School in Clinton to discuss, among other issues, how the county and Upper Marlboro can better prepare for and alleviate flooding and other emergencies.
Mike Kress, owner of Marlboro Tire, who had initially estimated a loss in the tens of thousands of dollars due to the flooding, said disasters like this create a sort of battle of attrition for affected businesses, where they may think they can survive, but doubts arise as costs continue to pile up in the following months.
“It’s a slow-burning fuse,” Kress said. “You don’t usually get flooded and wiped out in one fell swoop. You get flooded and then you start realizing the loss of income over the several days it takes to clean up, and the additional expenses of getting the place cleaned up and replacing damaged equipment. After a while, it kind of cascades, and you realize you’re still underwater.”
ewagner@gazette.net
Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly spelled Joseph Hourcle’s name.
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