NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — Indiana expects to finish its request for federal disaster aid within the next few days, Gov. Mike Braun said Thursday.

State officials are gathering details from areas hit by the storms across Indiana before they submit the formal application. The Republican governor also revealed Indiana has spent $5 million so far on flood recovery efforts.

“The state activated its emergency response, which is $5,000 per family for temporary housing, food and clothing. Whatever’s not being done locally, you’ve got that to call on as well. The federal response, so far, has been to just replace the funds we’ve spent across our state, which has far exceeded $5 million.”

“Today and tomorrow, we should be getting enough together to give that to them (the federal government) to see if we get a major declaration. It has taken that long to get the information they’ll need, which they’ll look to see if it reaches the threshold, and we’ll be very attentive, making sure if it’s close we’ll get the benefit of the doubt. We’ve got a good relationship with the administration.”

He provided an update from the Noblesville Public Safety Building after he toured damage from last week’s storms and flooding in Hamilton County, north of Indianapolis.

Last week’s floods hit Noblesville especially hard. Republican Mayor Chris Jensen said the city alone has suffered at least $10 million in damage. While the floods displaced 14 families, Jensen said no one will face eviction from the hotels where they are staying.

The governor said several state aid programs are open to residents, though he did not have a total for how many people have already applied.

He also discussed what he expects to happen regarding the federal government’s approval of a disaster declaration. He thinks the state has a very strong case for the federal government to step in, based on the scale of what happened in Noblesville and other parts of the state.

The food pantry at the Hamilton County 4-H Fairgrounds remained open Thursday for residents affected by the flooding. Over the next few days, however, officials plan to move those services back to the permanent food pantry system.

Jensen said local officials will carefully document every expense to track how state and federal aid dollars are spent.

Gregg Montgomery with Circle City Broadcasting contributed to this request.

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