By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Christmas is when we build memories from interacting with our families. Christmas 2015 will be best remembered by many in Alabama for the amount of rain and in many cases for the flooding that came with that deluge. On Wednesday, January 13, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley is asking for federal disaster assistance for 39 counties that were the most severely impacted by the flooding.
Gov. Bentley said in a statement on Twitter, “The damage caused by the tornadoes and flooding significantly impacted AL communities and we are working to rebuild from historic flooding.”
The Governor continued, “Today I requested Public Assistance from @fema for 39 Alabama counties impacted by the December storms.”
At the request of Governor Robert Bentley, the Alabama Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday announced the state has formally requested federal disaster assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 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 during December 24 through 31, 2015.
State Representative Tim Wadsworth wrote, “Alabama met the $6.7 million threshold for FEMA (Federal) for roads, bridges, and highways. Gov. Bentley requests or will request Federal assistance. Alabama did not meet threshold for private assistance since there was an insufficient number of homes damaged. Small business loans may be available for private assistance in certain areas.”
EMA Director Art Faulkner wrote, “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 Governor 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.”
Gov. 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.”
