The President of the United States, Joe Biden, has approved this Sunday the declaration of catastrophe in the states of California and Alabama, affected since the last weeks by a strong storm.
Biden confirmed that there is a major disaster in California and ordered federal aid to carry out the recovery of the areas affected by the severe winter storms that have caused floods, landslides and mudslides throughout the state since December 27th until today.
This action, a step beyond the declaration of a state of emergency, makes federal funds available to those affected in Merced, Sacramento and Santa Cruz counties in California, as well as Autauga and Dallas counties in Alabama.
As stated in the White House press release, this aid «may include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses» as well as assistance to business owners.
At this moment, the damage caused by the heavy rains is still being evaluated and the U.S. Government does not rule out the designation of federal aid in other areas once the evaluations are completed.
AT LEAST 19 VICTIMS A series of winter storms have battered the west coast of the United States over the past 15 days and have so far left at least 19 people dead in California.
On the other hand, the state is also preparing for a new round of torrential rains, strong winds and snowfall. According to the authorities, this new storm could trigger new floods, landslides and power outages.
As reported by ‘Bloomberg’, the director of the Office of Emergency Services of the governor of California said at a press conference on Friday that the state «is not out of danger yet». «These storms are among the deadliest natural disasters in our state’s modern history,» she added.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
