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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 9, 2008 No. 08-072 PRESIDENT BUSH APPROVES FEDERAL DISASTER DECLARATION FOR 46 COUNTIES President George W. Bush today approved Governor Kathleen Sebelius' request
for a federal disaster declaration in Kansas for public assistance for
46 counties in Kansas. Bush also approved the activation of the Hazard
Mitigation Program statewide. "This is great news that will truly help Kansans in impacted communities,"
said Gov. Sebelius. "Many counties throughout our state were significantly
damaged by these storms and I'm thankful we now have this federal declaration
in place to assist with the recovery efforts." The request for federal declaration was for areas impacted by severe
storms accompanied by large hail, lightning, high winds, tornadoes, and
torrential rains resulting in widespread destruction to homes businesses,
utilities, and public infrastructure beginning May 22, 2008, and ending
June 16, 2008. Of the 49 counties originally requested by Sebelius, three counties Lincoln,
Meade and Morris, did not meet qualifications for public assistance approval.
Counties named in the request are: Barber, Bourbon, Butler, Brown, Chautauqua,
Cherokee, Clark, Clay, Comanche , Cowley, Crawford, Decatur, Dickinson,
Edwards, Ellis, Franklin, Gove, Graham, Harper, Hodgeman, Jackson, Jewell,
Kiowa, Linn, Logan, Mitchell, Montgomery, Ness, Norton, Osborne, Pawnee,
Phillips, Pratt, Republic, Riley, Rooks, Rush, Saline, Seward, Sheridan,
Smith, Stafford, Sumner, Thomas, Trego and Wallace. Public Assistance will help counties restore public infrastructure damaged
or destroyed by the storms and provides reimbursement to the counties
and certain non-profits, including rural electric cooperatives. “We will continue to work with these counties to ensure they have
the resources needed in response to these disasters,” said Maj. Gen.
Tod Bunting, director of Kansas Division of Emergency Management and adjutant
general. SBA disaster loans are also being made available to individuals and businesses
in Clay, Dickinson, Geary, Marion, Marshall, McPherson, Morris, Ottawa,
Pottawatomie, Riley, Saline, Wabaunsee and Washington Counties. Disaster loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace their damaged or destroyed primary residence. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $40,000 to repair or replace
damaged or destroyed personal property. Businesses of any size and private
non-profit organizations may borrow up to $1.5 million. The filing deadline
to return applications for property damage is August 19, 2008. The deadline
to return economic injury applications is March 20, 2009. For additional information, call the SBA's Customer Service Center at
(800) 659-2955 or go on-line to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov or the
SBA's website at www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance. Hearing impaired
individuals may contact SBA at (800) 877-8339. -30- |
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