Long after the fallen trees and downed powerlines from the June 29 derecho storm have been cleaned up, President Obama has declared the District a disaster area.
D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray and the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency announced late Tuesday afternoon that they had received word from the White House that the president had granted the mayor’s request for a federal disaster declaration.
The declaration for the District comes four days after Obama granted Virginia’s and West Virginia’s disaster request. He issued a major disaster declaration for New Jersey on July 19.
Better later than never — the declaration makes jurisdictions eligible for federal aid, meaning they could get reimbursed for all those overtime hours and cleanup costs.
This assistance will help us recoup some of the millions of dollars of expenses the city incurred in ensuring that our streets were safe and our residents had food, water and shelter after the storms,” said Gray in his statement thanking Obama for issuing the declaration.
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley requested a presidential disaster declaration for six jurisdictions (Calvert, Charles, Kent, Montgomery and St. Mary’s counties and Baltimore City) in Maryland last week.
A derecho, is a complex of severe, long-lasting thunderstorms that contain strong straight-line winds. The June 29 event left more than 1.7 million people across the region without power.
