The President yesterday declared an emergency exists in the State of
Texas and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local response
efforts in the area struck by wildfires beginning on March 14, 2008, and
continuing.
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 Anderson, Andrews,
Archer, Armstrong, Atascosa, Bailey, Bandera, Baylor, Bell, Bexar,
Blanco, Borden, Bosque, Brewster, Briscoe, Brooks, Brown, Burleson,
Burnet, Caldwell, Callahan, Carson, Castro, Cherokee, Childress, Clay,
Cochran, Coke, Coleman, Collin, Collingsworth, Comal, Comanche, Concho,
Cooke, Coryell, Crane, Crockett, Crosby, Culberson, Dawson, Deaf Smith,
Delta, Denton, Dickens, Dimmit, Duval, Eastland, Ector, Edwards, Ellis,
Erath, Falls, Fannin, Fisher, Floyd, Foard, Frio, Gaines, Garza,
Gillespie, Glasscock, Gonzales, Gray, Grayson, Guadalupe, Hale, Hall,
Hamilton, Hansford, Hardeman, Haskell, Hays, Hemphill, Hidalgo, Hill,
Hockley, Hood, Hopkins, Houston, Howard, Hudspeth, Hunt, Hutchinson,
Irion, Jack, Jeff Davis, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, Johnson, Jones, Karnes,
Kaufman, Kendall, Kent, Kerr, Kimble, King, Kinney, Kleberg, Knox,
LaSalle, Lamar, Lamb, Lampasas, Liberty, Limestone, Lipscomb, Live Oak,
Llano, Loving, Lubbock, Lynn, Martin, Mason, Maverick, McCulloch,
McLennan, Medina, Menard, Midland, Milam, Mills, Mitchell, Montague,
Montgomery, Moore, Motley, Navarro, Nolan, Nueces, Oldham, Orange, Palo
Pinto, Parker, Parmer, Pecos, Potter, Presidio, Rains, Randall, Reagan,
Real, Reeves, Refugio, Robertson, Rockwall, Runnels, Rusk, San Saba,
Schleicher, Somervell, Starr, Stephens, Sterling, Stonewall, Sutton,
Swisher, Tarrant, Taylor, Terrell, Terry, Throckmorton, Tom Green,
Travis, Upton, Uvalde, Val Verde, Van Zandt, Walker, Waller, Ward,
Washington, Wheeler, Wichita, Wilbarger, Willacy, Williamson, Wilson,
Winkler, Wise, Young, Zapata, and Zavala.
Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at
its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the
impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures, limited to
direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal
funding.
R. David Paulison, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Kenneth G. Clark as the
Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the
affected area.
For Further Information Contact: FEMA (202) 646-4600.
|