Statement by the Press Secretary on Federal Disaster Assistance for Texas

The President yesterday declared an emergency exists in the State of Texas and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local response efforts in the area struck by wildfires beginning on March 14, 2008, and continuing.

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the counties of Anderson, Andrews, Archer, Armstrong, Atascosa, Bailey, Bandera, Baylor, Bell, Bexar, Blanco, Borden, Bosque, Brewster, Briscoe, Brooks, Brown, Burleson, Burnet, Caldwell, Callahan, Carson, Castro, Cherokee, Childress, Clay, Cochran, Coke, Coleman, Collin, Collingsworth, Comal, Comanche, Concho, Cooke, Coryell, Crane, Crockett, Crosby, Culberson, Dawson, Deaf Smith, Delta, Denton, Dickens, Dimmit, Duval, Eastland, Ector, Edwards, Ellis, Erath, Falls, Fannin, Fisher, Floyd, Foard, Frio, Gaines, Garza, Gillespie, Glasscock, Gonzales, Gray, Grayson, Guadalupe, Hale, Hall, Hamilton, Hansford, Hardeman, Haskell, Hays, Hemphill, Hidalgo, Hill, Hockley, Hood, Hopkins, Houston, Howard, Hudspeth, Hunt, Hutchinson, Irion, Jack, Jeff Davis, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, Johnson, Jones, Karnes, Kaufman, Kendall, Kent, Kerr, Kimble, King, Kinney, Kleberg, Knox, LaSalle, Lamar, Lamb, Lampasas, Liberty, Limestone, Lipscomb, Live Oak, Llano, Loving, Lubbock, Lynn, Martin, Mason, Maverick, McCulloch, McLennan, Medina, Menard, Midland, Milam, Mills, Mitchell, Montague, Montgomery, Moore, Motley, Navarro, Nolan, Nueces, Oldham, Orange, Palo Pinto, Parker, Parmer, Pecos, Potter, Presidio, Rains, Randall, Reagan, Real, Reeves, Refugio, Robertson, Rockwall, Runnels, Rusk, San Saba, Schleicher, Somervell, Starr, Stephens, Sterling, Stonewall, Sutton, Swisher, Tarrant, Taylor, Terrell, Terry, Throckmorton, Tom Green, Travis, Upton, Uvalde, Val Verde, Van Zandt, Walker, Waller, Ward, Washington, Wheeler, Wichita, Wilbarger, Willacy, Williamson, Wilson, Winkler, Wise, Young, Zapata, and Zavala.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures, limited to direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.

R. David Paulison, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Kenneth G. Clark as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA (202) 646-4600.