Carbajal Urges White House to Approve Major Disaster Declaration
Washington,
December 21, 2017
Today, Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24) contacted the President urging him to approve Governor Brown’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration in response to the Thomas Fire. This declaration would trigger the release of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds to help debris removal, individuals rebuild houses and obtain temporary rental homes, as well as access Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster loans. “As thousands of families on the Central Coast are tragically unable to return to their damaged or destroyed homes this holiday season, the Administration must deploy all available federal resources to help these families and businesses rebuild,” said Carbajal. “A federal disaster declaration is imperative to help individuals, whose lives are upended by the Thomas Fire, gain access to critical FEMA services necessary to rebuild our communities.” With over 272,00 acres burned throughout Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, and 1,041 structures destroyed by the Thomas Fires so far, this disaster declaration will release critical FEMA Individual Assistance (IA) funds. The President previously issued an emergency declaration on December 8, 2017 that released federal resources to aid suppression efforts, including additional Department of Defense air support and shelter supplies for the more than 95,000 people evacuated over the course of the fire.
A copy of the letter can be found here and the full text is below:
President Donald J. Trump 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20500
Subject: Major Disaster Declaration for the Thomas Fire Dear President Trump: I write in strong support of the State of California’s request for a major disaster declaration to provide much needed recovery assistance as a result of the fires that raged throughout regions of Southern California and the Central Coast. We urge this administration to move swiftly to approve California’s request for a major disaster declaration and federal recovery aid. People in our communities have lost everything, from their homes to their businesses. The Thomas Fire started on Monday, December 4, 2017 off the Highway 150 and Highway 126 in Ventura County and spread into portions of Santa Barbara County. It has burned more than 272,000 acres and destroyed over 1,000 structures. On December 5, 2017, Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency within the state of California and submitted a requested for a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) declaration for the Thomas Fire. On December 8, 2017, Governor Brown also submitted a request for a Presidential emergency declaration for federal assistance to help combat the fire. We were pleased to see you and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approve California’s requests expeditiously. However, it is critical that you also grant this major disaster declaration to help the communities impacted by the fires rebuild. Again, we strongly support Governor Brown’s request for a major disaster declaration. We stand ready to provide any support to you in approving this request and provide the necessary resources to the impacted communities. Sincerely,
SALUD O. CARBAJAL Member of Congress ### |
