President Approves Emergency Declaration for Louisiana

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 -- The U.S. Department of Defense's American Forces Press Service issued the following news:

President Donald J. Trump today declared that an emergency exists in the state of Louisiana and ordered federal assistance to supplement state, tribal, and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Tropical Storm Harvey beginning on Aug. 27, 2017, and continuing, according to a White House news release.

The president's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate all disaster relief efforts, the release said. This action will help alleviate the hardship and suffering that the emergency has inflicted on the local population, and 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 Louisiana parishes of Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis and Vermillion.

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, including direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding, the release said.

FEMA Administrator Brock Long named William J. Doran III as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected areas.