Logan County commissioners to consider disaster declaration after June storms

Logan County commissioners were set to consider a disaster declaration at a special meeting at 3 p.m. Wednesday after severe weather hit the county from June 22-30. The move comes as residents, road crews and emergency managers continue sorting out how much damage the storms left behind.

A local disaster declaration can do more than signal that the county has been hit hard. Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management says the recovery process helps a county document damages and coordinate with state agencies and FEMA, which can matter for public infrastructure, private property losses and the paperwork that follows a severe-weather event. If commissioners approve the declaration, Logan County could strengthen its case for additional recovery support; if they delay it, that coordination can take longer to move forward.

The county has used that tool before. In June 2023, Logan County adopted a local disaster emergency after constant rains and runoff damaged numerous county roads and strained the budget. The resolution from that year cited emergency and continuous repairs and maintenance as the reason for the declaration, underscoring how quickly repeated weather events can turn into a financial problem for a rural county with a large road network to maintain.

The July 2 meeting also came during a busy stretch for Colorado emergency managers. Gov. Jared Polis verbally declared a disaster emergency for the Snyder Mesa Fire in Mesa County on June 27, after the fire burned more than 8,200 acres and threatened 266 homes. Colorado’s disaster page showed several current wildfire-related state disaster entries in late June, even as no new or current major disaster declaration was listed for Colorado in the latest state update.

For Logan County residents and property owners, the immediate questions are practical ones: how much damage the storms caused, which roads and properties were affected, whether agriculture took a hit and whether the county will ask people to report losses. The special meeting was the first public step toward answering those questions and deciding how aggressively Logan County will pursue outside help.