FEMA team floods Jefferson City

A parked car is submerged in rain water during flash flooding at Washington Park on Saturday, April 29, 2017. A Washington Park staff member assisted the owner out of her car after she got stuck attempting to drive through the water.
A parked car is submerged in rain water during flash flooding at Washington Park on Saturday, April 29, 2017. A Washington Park staff member assisted the owner out of her car after she got stuck attempting to drive through the water.

Jefferson City businesses are getting an unexpected boost from an unlikely source.

Hundreds of FEMA workers arrived in Jefferson City over the past two weeks as parts of the state continue to clean up from devastating flooding this spring.

For at least a month, those workers will be living in area hotels and eating at Jefferson City restaurants. Local business and tourism officials said it's still not known how big the boost will be, but any new business is good for the community.

FEMA spokesman Alberto Pillot said 202 employees from the agency are working at FEMA's temporary Jefferson City Joint Field Office. The office oversees employees who provide disaster assistance information, process assistance registration and educate residents on local officials on mitigating the effects of flooding in the future. During disasters in Missouri, like floods in 2008 and 2011 and the 2011 Joplin tornado, FEMA typically sets up a field office in Jefferson City to work with state agencies to assist affected residents.

"It's a variety of people that are here to support the state," Pillot said.

Over the next several weeks, he said, FEMA workers will come in from every state and many U.S. territories. Each FEMA employee deployed to Jefferson City will be here for a minimum of 30 days, but could be here for up to three months. Pillot said several factors determine how long each employee will be here.

"It depends on the need," he said. "Really it depends on the magnitude of the event."

Agents typically stay longer in places where disasters are greater and the need is larger, like in the cases of Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy, Pillot said.

Gov. Eric Greitens requested federal disaster aid May 24 for 45 Missouri counties affected by recent flooding. President Donald Trump approved a major disaster declaration June 2, making federal assistance available to individuals and businesses that suffered flood damage in 37 counties. Local governments and nonprofits in 45 counties are also eligible to receive federal aid for flooding response and recovery efforts.

FEMA workers began arriving in Jefferson City soon afterward. Satellite offices that report to the Jefferson City office will likely be set up later in places like Butler County and Joplin, which were hit hard by this year's floods, Pillot said.

Kolb Properties owner Larry Kolb leased FEMA a large office on McCarty Street. He said he's worked with FEMA several times, but it's always tough getting a space ready on short notice.

"We had to clean it up, fix the parking lot, fix the lights," Kolb said. "We had contractors out there. Then Saturday, two tractor-trailers showed up."

Kolb used to lease FEMA a building on Christy Drive, but he recently sold that property.

He said FEMA is very particular about what it wants in a building.

"Everything has to be set up perfectly," Kolb said. "They're very touchy about security."

During their stay, FEMA employees will live in area hotels. Diane Gillespie, executive director of the Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau, said she won't know the final impact FEMA workers will have on hotels' business until they leave in several weeks. Still, she said, they will be out shopping and eating at local restaurants.

"I know they are out and about spending money when they are here," Gillespie said. "It's not going to hurt. Any type of business we can bring into the community is good."

The unexpected influx of FEMA workers should be good for area hotels, which saw 59.2 percent of rooms booked through May, Gillespie said. That's a 6 percent decrease from the number of rooms booked through five months in 2016.

Rooms for the Aug. 21 solar eclipse sold out months ago, though. Jefferson City's annual Salute to America event around the July 4 holiday will also provide hotels with an influx of travelers. With those events, Gillespie said, the next six months look good for hotel owners.