Washington - Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif) joined Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) to send a letter to President Trump urging him to approve Governor Jerry Brown’s request for federal assistance and a major disaster declaration for the State of California.

“We strongly support California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.’s request for a Major Disaster declaration for the State of California in response to the atmospheric river storm system that moved through California from January 18 through January 23, 2017”, wrote the Senators. “We urge you to approve the Governor’s request to make federal assistance available under Section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act), including Public Assistance for the 16 California counties most affected by the storms, Hazard Mitigation Assistance statewide, and any other appropriate federal assistance.”  

Recently, Harris and Feinstein supported Governor Brown’s request for an emergency declaration during the Oroville Dam emergency. President Trump approved the emergency declaration and repair work continues to be underway to the emergency spillway. 

Full text of the letter is available below:

March 9, 2017

The Honorable Donald J. Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We strongly support California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.’s request for a Major Disaster declaration for the State of California in response to the atmospheric river storm system that moved through California from January 18 through January 23, 2017. We urge you to approve the Governor’s request to make federal assistance available under Section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act), including Public Assistance for the 16 California counties most affected by the storms, Hazard Mitigation Assistance statewide, and any other appropriate federal assistance.

In recent months, multiple severe storms have moved through California, contributing to some of the most significant rainfall in recent years. The precipitation has been extremely destructive to the state, creating damage on our roadways and pushing rivers, creeks, and streams to exceed their flood stages. These storms have strained our infrastructure, including at the Oroville Dam spillways, which crews are still working to repair. We thank you for approving earlier requests to provide federal assistance following the emergency situation at Oroville, as well as the atmospheric storm system that occurred earlier in January. However, this latest storm system has created new challenges and has impacted the counties of El Dorado, Kern, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Napa, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Tuolumne, Trinity, and Yolo particularly hard. The cost of damages that Public Assistance is being sought for is expected to exceed $112.9 million.

We support Governor Brown’s request and strongly urge you to declare a Major Disaster. Thank you for your consideration.

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