Press Releases

Today, Congressmen Salud Carbajal (CA-24) and Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) urged President Biden to approve California’s request for a major disaster declaration to unlock additional storm relief for Central Coast families and businesses impacted by recent storms and flooding.

“We are grateful for the swift support your Administration has afforded to our region in the wake of the severe winter storms,” the lawmakers wrote. “However, more help is needed to support families and businesses impacted by flooding, debris flows, and mud flows directly related to the storms…We strongly support Governor Newsom’s request for a major disaster declaration and ask that you make all federal resources necessary available. We stand ready to provide any support to you in expeditiously approving this request and provide the necessary resources to the impacted communities.”

The major disaster declaration would enable the federal government, spearheaded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to receive claims from individual families and businesses, provide unemployment and legal assistance, crisis counseling, and other related services for communities in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties.

A declaration from President Biden would also enable public assistance from FEMA to state, local, and tribal governments to support debris removal, emergency protective measures, and other emergency infrastructure and work measures.

The full text of their letter to President Biden can be found HERE.

Earlier this week, Carbajal and Panetta successfully petitioned President Biden to approve an amendment to his federal disaster declaration to include Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties to enable federal resources to aid emergency storm response efforts.