The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Sunday that President Donald Trump approved a major disaster declaration for Oregon, freeing federal emergency aid to supplement Oregon’s fight against the coronavirus.
As of Sunday, the virus had killed 13 people in the state. Gov. Kate Brown issued a state of emergency for the state on March 8 and a stay-at-home order on Monday.
According to FEMA, federal funding is now available to help state and tribal governments, as well as local governments and nonprofits for emergency protective measures as the coronavirus continues to spread.
The order is back-dated to Jan. 20.
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Michael F. O’Hare has been named as the federal coordinating officer for Oregon’s federal recovery operations. He’s the FEMA regional administrator for Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington and resides in Alaska.
FEMA and the White House have been rolling out these disaster declarations to assist multiple states. Trump issued a disaster declaration for Washington last Sunday, and Oregon’s order brings the number of states with disaster declarations due to the coronavirus to 18.
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-- Lizzy Acker
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