INDIANAPOLIS (January 21, 2005) ? Governor Mitch Daniels received word today that President George W. Bush signed the disaster declaration that will lead to federal assistance for Hoosier families in 62 counties affected by recent winter storms.

Michael D. Brown, under secretary for emergency preparedness and response for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, representing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), personally delivered the declaration to the governor while the two visited residents, responders and officials in Anderson this afternoon, which has been hard hit by ice storms and severe winter weather.

?Local and state public employees have worked tirelessly to combat our severe weather situations across the state, and they?ve received critically important help from volunteers who are concerned about their neighbors,? said the governor. ?Director Brown was impressed with how Indiana has responded to these historic calamities, but I told him not to be surprised because these are Hoosiers.?

Daniels sent a letter to the president requesting assistance for residents of 64 counties on January 14. All but two of those counties, Perry and Spencer, were included in today?s declaration. Both are expected to join the list once damage assessments are complete.

The action by the President makes federal funding available to affected individuals in these counties: Bartholomew, Benton, Blackford, Boone, Brown, Carroll, Cass, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, Daviess, Decatur, Delaware, Dubois, Floyd, Fountain, Gibson, Grant, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Harrison, Hendricks, Henry, Howard, Huntington, Jackson, Jay, Jennings, Johnson, Knox, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Martin, Miami, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Orange, Owen, Parke, Pike, Posey, Putnam, Randolph, Rush, Scott, Shelby, Sullivan, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Vanderburgh, Vermilion, Vigo, Wabash, Warren, Warrick, Washington, Wells and White.

The declaration means that residents are eligible for Individual Assistance Programs, which include disaster housing, disaster unemployment assistance, crisis counseling, individual and house programs and other needs assistance, as well as hazard mitigation and Small Business Administration Disaster Loans.

Individuals and businesses may apply calling 800/621-FEMA (3362); TTY 800/462-7585.

The governor will request 23 additional counties for Individual Assistance. They are Adams, Allen, Dearborn, DeKalb, Elkhart, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Jasper, Kosciusko, Lake, LaPorte, Marshall, Newton, Noble, Porter, Pulaski, Ripley, St. Joseph, Starke, Union, Wayne, and Whitley.

The declaration did not include local units of government that incurred damage to roads, bridges or other public facilities. Approval of such assistance generally takes longer than assistance to individuals because the total amount of documented damage must exceed $1 for every resident of Indiana, that is, about $6.2 million.

A request for 17 counties will be made to FEMA. Those counties are Adams, Blackford, Boone, Clinton, Delaware, Fountain, Grant, Henry, Howard, Jay, Madison, Montgomery, Randolph, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Warren and Wayne. The Public Assistance Program will provide money to offset unusually high costs for local governments' emergency efforts to protect human life. The federal government will pay 75 percent of eligible costs.

Other counties may be requested for Individual and Public Assistance as additional information in received

The Statement from the White House can be found at this link:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/01/20050121-1.html.

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