President Donald J. Trump Approves Texas And Louisiana Emergency Declaration

President Donald J. Trump is seen on screen in the White House Situation Room, as he conducts a video teleconference regarding an update on Hurricane Harvey, Saturday, August 26, 2017, from a conference room at Camp David, near Thurmont, MD., conferring with Vice President Mike Pence; Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly; Thomas Bossert, Homeland Security Advisor; Gen. Keith Kellogg, National Security Advisor Chief of Staff; Deputy Chief of Staff for White House Operations, Joe Hagin; Elaine Duke, Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; Health and Human Service Secretary Tom Price; U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry; White House Deputy Chief of Staff Kirstjen Nielsen and William B. “Brock” Long, Administrator of FEMA. Also in the room and on the call were additional Cabinet members and White House Senior Staff. (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks)​

Today, President Donald J. Trump declared that an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana and ordered Federal assistance to supplement State, tribal, and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Tropical Storm Harvey beginning on August 27, 2017, and continuing.

The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts. This action will help alleviate the hardship and suffering that the emergency has inflicted on the local population, and provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the parishes of Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis, and Vermillion.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.

Brock Long, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named William J. Doran III as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected areas.

In previous action by the President Friday,

President Donald J. Trump declared that a major disaster exists in the State of Texas and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by Hurricane Harvey beginning on August 23, 2017, and continuing.

The President’s action makes Federal funding available to affected individuals in the counties of Bee, Goliad, Kleberg, Nueces, San Patricio, and Refugio.

Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

Federal funding also is available to the State and to eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work in the counties of Bee, Goliad, Kleberg, Nueces, San Patricio, and Refugio Counties.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

Brock Long, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Kevin L. Hannes as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected areas.

Damage assessments are continuing in other areas, and more counties and additional forms of assistance may be designated after the assessments are fully completed.

Residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated counties can begin applying for assistance tomorrow by registering online at http://www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA(3362) or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for the hearing and speech impaired. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time) seven days a week until further notice.