MONTGOMERY ‐ At the request of Gov. Robert Bentley, the Alabama Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) on Wednesday announced the state has formally requested federal disaster assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The approval of this request will authorize the FEMA Public Assistance Grant Program to aid jurisdictions in Autauga, Barbour, Blount, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Coffee, Colbert, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Cullman, Dale, DeKalb, Elmore, Escambia, Fayette, Franklin, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Jackson, Lamar, Lawrence, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Marion, Marshall, Monroe, Pike, Perry, Russell, St Clair, Walker and Winston Counties as they recover from the effects of severe weather that occurred from Dec. 24 – 31, 2015.
“The damage caused by the tornadoes and flooding significantly impacted Alabama communities,” Bentley said. “We are working to rebuild from historic flooding, and the FEMA Public Assistance will be a tremendous help to communities. I appreciate the quick work by damage assessment teams in order for Alabama to make the request to FEMA. Together with our federal partners, we will recover from the damage.”
The request follows recently‐concluded damage assessments performed by local, state and federal personnel. Assessments indicated that governments at all levels have collectively incurred millions of dollars in combined costs for expenses such as debris removal and damage to infrastructure. The Public Assistance Grant Program provides assistance for debris removal, emergency protective measures, and the repair, replacement or restoration of disaster-damaged, publicly-owned facilities and infrastructure.
“I am very thankful for the joint effort of local governments and FEMA to assist Alabama EMA in conducting damage assessments statewide over the last week. Now that we have compiled the data and Gov. Bentley has made the request, we are very hopeful for a quick response.” said Alabama EMA Director Art Faulkner. Approval of this request is very important to repair the major damage to our public infrastructure throughout the state.”
For more information, visit http://www.ema.alabama.gov/.
