Bush approves ‘disaster’ tag for 7 counties
BY JIM MYERS World Washington Bureau
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
12/07/12 at 11:17 AM
Officials say additional counties may be
added to the list as surveys continue.
WASHINGTON — President
Bush approved a major
disaster declaration Tuesday
for Tulsa County and six other
Oklahoma counties, expanding
the type of federal assistance
they can receive in the
wake of recent ice storms.
U.S. Rep. John Sullivan, R-Okla.,
who has tracked the
federal response to the state’s
requests, applauded the president’s
“swift leadership.”
“The governor submitted
this Saturday afternoon, and
72 hours later, we got the president
to approve it,” Sullivan
said. “I think it is pretty good
success.”
The latest presidential declaration
allows federal reimbursement
to state and local
governments for storm cleanup
and infrastructure repairs
in Cleveland, Lincoln, Mayes,
Oklahoma, Pottawatomie, Tulsa
and Wagoner counties.
Officials said additional
counties may be added to that
list as surveys continue.
The state also is continuing
to compile damage information
for an anticipated request
for individual assistance.
Last week Bush approved
all 77 counties in the state for
an emergency declaration,
which is a more limited action.
Under that designation, Sullivan
said, counties can receive
assistance for debris removal
and emergency
protective measures.
He said the new declaration
for the seven counties expands
federal assistance to include
work on road systems
and bridges, water control facilities,
public buildings and
contents, public utilities and
facilities such as parks.
Gov. Brad Henry and Tulsa
Mayor Kathy Taylor also were
pleased the disaster declaration
was approved so quickly.
“This will ensure that we
will get help for the people
who need it most,” Taylor
said.
Tulsa’s estimated storm response
cost is $7.5 million.
“This declaration will ensure
that we get a portion back
for every dollar we’ve spent,”
Taylor said. “It will have a
huge impact on our budget.”
Federal funds are available
to state and eligible local governments
and certain private
nonprofit organizations for
certain work.
Henry said 13 or 14 more
counties could be added to the
new list by week’s end.
He is expected to submit another
request to cover individual
assistance, and residents
and business owners who
have uninsured ice storm
damage were urged to call the
state’s toll-free damage assessment
hot line at (866)
560-7584.
“Individual assistance, if
you look at the track record, is
much more difficult to obtain,
but I feel that we have a good
case to warrant at putting that
forward,” Sullivan said.
“I am going to work very
hard to try to secure that.”
Sullivan had taken the lead
on delegation efforts to track
the state’s requests and the
federal responses. “I learned
from the last one, watching
other people,” he said.
“Also, it did affect my community,
where I live, so I got to
see firsthand. My power just
came on yesterday (Monday).”
World staff writer Brian Barber contributed
to this story.
Jim Myers (202) 484-1424
jim.myers@tulsaworld.com
How a federal disaster request works
Step 1 — Local request: Local
governments issue disaster emergency
proclamations and notify the
Oklahoma Department of Emergency
Management. The OEM works with
more than 400 local emergency
managers to determine the extent of
the emergency and which areas are
hardest hit.
Step 2 — State response: The
state Emergency Operations Center
is activated. In this case, it brought
in representatives of the state
military, transportation, health and
public safety departments, the
Corporation Commission, OG&E, the
Oklahoma Association of Electric
Cooperatives, the American Red Cross
and the Salvation Army. The state's
chief executive declares a state of
emergency.
Step 3 — Federal response: The
governor requests a federal emergency
declaration, which makes available
additional resources, such as bottled
water and portable generators, for
responding to the emergency. The
Federal Emergency Management
Agency and the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers join the Emergency
Operations Center.
Step 4 — Assessment: Even as
disaster response continues, teams
begin assessing damage to public
infrastructure to determine the level
of public assistance needed. As the
situation stabilizes, information is
gathered to determine the need for
individual assistance.
Step 5 — Declaration request:
Information gathered by the
assessment teams is put into report
form and sent with a letter from the
governor to the president requesting
public assistance — that is, aid to
governmental units — and a disaster
declaration. Later, information
gathered from individuals will
be submitted with a request for
individual assistance.
Step 6 — Disaster declared: The
president issues a disaster declaration
making available federal funds for
public assistance in affected counties.
Compiled by World staff writer Randy
Krehbiel.
Associated Images:
DISASTER DECLARATIONPresident Bush: It allows federalreimbursement to state and local governmentsfor storm cleanup and infrastructure repairs inCleveland, Lincoln, Mayes, Oklahoma,Pottawatomie, Tulsa and Wagoner counties.
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