U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday declared a state of emergency in the state of California to expedite federal assistance for the catastrophic storms that have been battering the area for weeks and will continue through the weekend.
The decision comes at the request of the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, who has warned that at least 16 million people are under threat of flooding, in part because of the new subtropical storm that is sweeping through the state this week, as well as the possibility of flooding as tons of snow accumulated during February’s storm surge thaws.
At least 13 people have died in recent weeks in the southern part of the state, especially in remote communities in the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountain areas east of Los Angeles.
For all these reasons, the White House has activated this declaration that will apply to the counties of Amador, Butte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Lake, Los Angeles, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Francisco, San Mateo, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tulare, Tuolumne and Yuba.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be authorized to »identify, mobilize and provide at its discretion equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impact of the emergency and prevent a catastrophe» in the above areas.
This storm system generally threatens 23 states across the country, from California to New York to Minessotta to Michigan, with a population of approximately 70 million people on alert for snowfall or heavy rain of varying intensity.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
