Biden Declares State of Emergency for California Due to Winter Storms
Winter storm in Western US
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – US President Joe Biden has declared a state of emergency for California, ordering federal assistance to supplement local, tribal, and state responses to successive winter storms, flooding and mudslides, the White House said on Monday. “The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the counties of El Dorado, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Monterey, Napa, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Stanislaus, and Ventura,” the release stated. Category B emergency protective measures will be 75% federally funded. FEMA has appointed Andrew F. Grant as the federal coordinating officer for federal recovery operations in the affected areas. At least six people were reported dead due to the ongoing winter storms in California.
