From U.S. Representative Chrissy Houlahan’s office re: Tropical Storm Ida:
Hurricane Ida swept through our community last week, leaving behind extensive damage and a long road to recovery for many caught in its path. As the sun rose Thursday morning, our first responders (on little or no sleep at all) were still hard at work clearing roads and helping residents. So let me begin by thanking each and every one of them – without a doubt, their actions saved lives.
I’m sending this quick update to consolidate resources for families and businesses directly impacted by the severe storms and flooding. But before I do that, I want to address one common question I’m hearing:
What is the difference between a local and federal disaster declaration?
There are two levels of emergency declarations – the state level, issued by the Governor, and the federal level, issued by the White House. As I write this, our Governor has issued a state disaster declaration, but only the President can issue a federal disaster declaration. That hasn’t happened yet because we haven’t hit the necessary threshold of damage. And here’s why it’s important we get the latter: a federal emergency declaration means we can tap into more resources to help our schools, small businesses, and families recover.
After the storm, I met with local police officers, firefighters, and emergency coordinators to see the damage firsthand. Please know I’m doing everything I can to help speed up the process to get our Commonwealth such a federal declaration, including pushing necessary data to the Governor and White House and urging them to help activate the full resources of FEMA behind our efforts. But I need your help. Please continue to send pictures and accounts of the storm damage to your local municipality.