Storm clouds over Mariposa County
Sierra Sun Times file photo
January 13, 2023 - WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Thursday, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein (both D-Calif.) along with Representative Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif-19), Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.-11), and Representatives Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.-03), Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.-24), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.-30), and Brad Sherman (D-Calif.-32) led a bipartisan letter with 42 other California Members of Congress urging President Joe Biden to grant the State of California’s request for a major disaster declaration in response to recent severe weather. A major disaster declaration for California would provide a wide range of federal assistance programs for individuals and public infrastructure, including funds for both emergency and permanent work from FEMA and other federal agencies.
California has experienced multiple severe recent weather events, including as many as ten strong atmospheric rivers and a bomb cyclone system, which have caused significant and widespread flooding, mudslides, erosion, sinkholes, power outages, and evacuations for thousands of Californians across the state. In addition to extensive physical damages, these weather events have claimed the lives of multiple individuals. At one point, more than 34 million Californians, who make up nearly 90% of the state’s population, were under a flood watch and over 400,000 individuals had no electricity, threatening their livelihood and quality of life. On January 9, 2023, the state experienced its highest level of evacuation orders, impacting nearly 100,000 individuals, with an additional 56,000 individuals under evacuation orders.
“The magnitude of these weather systems has placed a severe strain on California’s resources and its ability to swiftly protect public health and safety,” the lawmakers wrote. “Although the state has invested more than $738 million in flood protection programs in the last two years alone, it has been and continues to be increasingly difficult for the state and local governments to obtain the necessary resources to respond to the devastation caused by these storms.
The lawmakers continued, “The size and scope of these storms require additional coordination and a wider range of long-term federal recovery programs. Therefore, we urge you to approve California’s request for a major disaster declaration.”
On January 11, Senator Padilla led a bipartisan letter with 38 California Members of Congress to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt to request expedited support, funding, and other assistance to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in response to the ongoing winter storms that have severely damaged road and highway infrastructure across the state.
In addition to Padilla, Feinstein, Panetta, Pelosi, Kiley, Carbajal, Schiff, and Sherman, the letter is signed by Representatives Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.-33), Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.-44), Ami Bera (D-Calif-06), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.-26), Judy Chu (D-Calif.- 28), J. Correa (D-Calif.-46), Jim Costa (D-Calif.-21), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.-10), Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.-16), John Garamendi (D-Calif.-08), Mike Garcia (R-Calif.-27), Robert Garcia (D-Calif.-42), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.-34), Josh Harder (D-Calif.-09), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.-02), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.-37), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.-17), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.-12), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.-36), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.-18), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.07), Tom McClintock (R-Calif.-05), Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.-15), Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.-31), Scott Peters (D-Calif.-50), Katie Porter (D-Calif.-47), Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.-25), Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.-38), Brad Sherman (D-Calif.-32), Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.-14), Mark Takano (D-Calif.-39), Mike Thompson (D-Calif.-04), Norma Torres (D-Calif.-35), Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.-01), David Valadao (R-Calif.-22), Tony Cardenas (D-Calif.-29), Young Kim (R-Calif.-40), Michelle Steel (R-Calif.-45), Darrell Issa (R-Calif.-48). Mike Levin (D-Calif.-49), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.-51), and Juan Vargas (D-Calif.-52).
Full text of the letter is available here and below.
Dear President Biden:
As members of the California Congressional Delegation, we write to request that you grant the State of California’s request for a major disaster declaration in response to recent winter storms, flooding, and mudslides. This severe weather and the resulting disasters began on December 24, 2022, and are currently ongoing. The intensity and damage of these storms require federal assistance, coordination, and action to supplement state and local efforts.
These recent weather events, which include as many as ten strong atmospheric river families and a bomb cyclone system, have caused significant and widespread flooding, mudslides, erosion, sinkholes, power outages, and evacuations for thousands of Californians across the state. In addition to extensive physical damages, these weather events have claimed the lives of multiple individuals. At one point, more than 34 million Californians, which makes up nearly 90% of the state’s population, were under a flood watch and over 400,000 individuals had no electricity, threatening their livelihood and quality of life. On January 9, 2023, the state experienced its highest level of evacuation orders, impacting nearly 100,000 individuals, with an additional 56,000 individuals under evacuations orders.
As detailed in California’s request, these consecutive severe storms have resulted in significant flooding and other impacts in numerous counties. Currently, 41 counties are under a federal emergency declaration: Alameda, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Kings, Lake, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Ventura, Yolo, and Yuba.
The magnitude of these weather systems has placed a severe strain on California’s resources and its ability to swiftly protect public health and safety. Although the state has invested more than $738 million in flood protection programs in the last two years alone, it has been and continues to be increasingly difficult for the state and local governments to obtain the necessary resources to respond to the devastation caused by these storms.
The size and scope of these storms require additional coordination and a wider range of long-term federal recovery programs. Therefore, we urge you to approve California’s request for an expedited major disaster declaration and expeditiously provide all categories of public assistance, individual assistance, and direct federal assistance for all counties set forth in the Governor’s request, as well as hazard mitigation statewide.
Sincerely,
Source: Senator Ron Johnson
