Obama Approves Federal Disaster Declaration for All 77 Counties

Gov. Brad Henry announced today that President Obama has approved the state&#39;s request for an emergency declaration covering all 77 Oklahoma counties. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.news9.com/global/story.asp?s=11905909">Crews Working Around The Clock To Restore Power Across The State</a>

Friday, January 29th 2010, 5:42 pm

By: News 9


Staff and Wire Reports

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Gov. Brad Henry announced Saturday that President Obama has approved the state's request for an emergency declaration covering all 77 Oklahoma counties.  

The declaration authorizes federal resources to assist state and local governments as they continue to respond to the severe winter storm. These resources include industrial size generators, bottled water, cots and blankets. 

State authorities will continue to assess the need for additional federal disaster aid to cover further response and recovery costs. 

Gov. Henry requested the first federal aid Friday afternoon and the White House approved the request today less than 24 hours later. 

"We appreciate the President's speedy response to our request for federal aid and we will continue to stay in close touch with the White House and federal authorities as we recover from the winter storm," said Gov. Henry.  "Many Oklahoma communities have been hard hit by this latest round of winter weather and we will be doing everything possible help them in the days and weeks to come."

Henry said many areas of the state have been hit hard by the winter storm and federal aid will play a key role in the recovery process.

"It's very important that we all work together, and we've been doing a great job in partnering during this disaster," said Kristy Yager, City of Oklahoma City.

With approval, state and local governments will receive reimbursement for their storm-related expenses. Eligible expenses include worker overtime and costs associated with operating shelters and clearing snow- and ice-covered roads.

"We're in no way near the end of this event for those people in Oklahoma who still don't have power," said Michelanna Ooten, Oklahoma Emergency Management.

In Oklahoma City, the street superintendent said the clearing of the slush and snow will take some time.

"We'll continue that operation, and we expect we'll probably expect we'll still be in that operation even by rush hour on Monday morning," said Mike DeGiacomo, City of Oklahoma City.

More on News9.com: Snow Storm Finally Wrapping Up Across the State

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