President Approves Oklahoma Disaster Declaration

President Barack Obama has approved a disaster declaration for five Oklahoma counties following severe storms, tornadoes and flooding between April 28 and May 1.

Thursday’s declaration means federal aid is available to supplement state and local recovery efforts in Alfalfa, Craig, Grant, Kay and Nowata counties. The storms resulted in an estimated $5.8 million in infrastructure damage and response costs in the five counties.

The designation delivers federal funding to help municipalities, counties and rural electric cooperatives with infrastructure repairs, debris removal and costs associated with responding to the storms. Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency says more designations may be made later if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.