Gov. Ricketts Requests Federal Disaster Declaration

LINCOLN, Nebraska, Aug. 13 -- Gov. Pete Ricketts, R-Nebraska, issued the following news release:

Today, Governor Pete Ricketts requested a Federal Disaster Declaration in the wake of severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, baseball-size hail, and flooding from June 17th to July 1st.

A Presidential Declaration would make federal dollars available to assist in funding recovery operations in 10 Nebraska counties: Cedar, Colfax, Cuming, Dakota, Dixon, Harlan, Logan, Thomas, Thurston, and Wayne. The Governor is requesting Public Assistance funds as well as Hazard Mitigation for the entire state.

Governor Ricketts declared a state of emergency on June 28th for an incident period beginning June 1st and continuing. Damages within the state include roads, bridges and culverts, electrical distribution infrastructure and facilities, and severe hail damage. Preliminary damage assessments were completed in the affected counties and the state has exceeded its threshold to make the request.

Governor Ricketts' request for a Federal Declaration has been submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Region VII Administrator Paul Taylor who will present it to President Donald J. Trump for consideration. Declarations take several weeks for consideration by the federal government.