President Bush Declares State of Emergency for Florida
Sep 8, 2008
Capitol to the Courthouse--September 8, 2008
On Sunday, September 7, 2008, President Bush declared a State of Emergency in the State of Florida and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Ike beginning on September 5, 2008, and continuing.
The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts and provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe, specifically in Monroe County.
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.
R. David Paulison, FEMA Administrator, named Thomas P. Davies as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.
FEMA’s press release is reprinted below.
President Declares Emergency For Florida
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) today announced that federal aid has been made available for the state of Florida to supplement State and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Ike beginning on September 5, 2008, and continuing.
FEMA Administrator David Paulison said the president’s action authorizes FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to 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 Monroe County limited to direct Federal assistance.
Paulison said that FEMA has been specifically authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures limited to direct Federal assistance will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.
R. David Paulison, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Thomas P. Davies as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.
FEMA coordinates the federal government’s role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.