On Monday, January 9th, the President approved a declaration of emergency for the State of California. The order provides Federal assistance to supplement State, tribal, and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from successive and severe winter storms, flooding, and mudslides beginning on January 8, 2023, and continuing. The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to identify, mobilize, and provide equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.
Whereas most requests for a federal emergency declaration are made after a catastrophe, the State made this request in advance based on predictions of where the worst damage of the storms would take place. RCRC member counties El Dorado, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Monterey, Napa, Placer, and Sonoma were included in the declaration, along with the counties of Los Angeles, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus, and Ventura. Due to the proactive nature of the emergency declaration request, the State expects to add more counties to this list.