THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
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For Immediate Release
January 5, 2001
PRESIDENT CLINTON DECLARES A MAJOR DISASTER
EXISTS IN THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA
President Clinton today declared a major disaster exists in the State
of Oklahoma and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local recovery
efforts in the area struck by a severe winter ice storm beginning on
December 25, 2000, and continuing.
The President's action makes Federal funding available to individuals
and local governments in a 39 county area. The counties include Adair,
Atoka, Bryan, Carter, Cherokee, Choctaw, Cleveland, Coal, Cotton, Creek,
Garvin, Grady, Haskell, Hughes, Jefferson, Johnston, Latimer, LeFlore,
Lincoln, Love, Marshall, McClain, McCurtain, McIntosh, Murray, Muskogee,
Okfuskee, Oklahoma, Okmulgee, Pittsburg, Pontotoc, Pottawatomie,
Pushmataha, Seminole, Sequoyah, Stephens, Tulsa, Wagoner and Washington.
Assistance can include disaster housing, grants, low-cost loans to
cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and
business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.
Assistance is also available for debris removal (Category A) and
emergency protective measures (Category B), including direct Federal
assistance, at 75 percent Federal funding.
James L. Witt, Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA), named C. Michel Butler as the Federal Coordinating Officer for
Federal recovery operations in the affected area.
The Agency said that damage surveys are continuing in other areas, and
additional assistance and counties may be added after the assessments are
completed.
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