Biden has expedited the declaration of a major disaster to send aid from the federal government
Half a thousand landslides, destroyed bridges and floods in 40 of the 58 counties in the state. The blow that nature has given California in three weeks of rain has been so virulent that the first estimates of damage rise to 1 billion dollars.
Government emergency services office spokesman Brian Ferguson clarified that assessment started just on Saturday is likely to shift higher. The good news is that the president, Joe Biden, has given orders to expedite the declaration of a major disaster through which the federal government will reimburse local and state authorities up to 75% of the cost necessary to repair the infrastructure. In the most damaged areas, local governments could pay only up to 8.5%.
The storms that followed a major drought began after Christmas and continued into last week. They flooded rivers, forced the evacuation of entire communities and killed at least 20 people. Sacramento, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Benito are some of the hardest-hit counties. Some sections of the famous Highway 1 that runs through Big Sur are still blocked and there are bridges that will still be inaccessible for several weeks. Harder will be the damage to agriculture, “seriously impacted”, which in Monterrey alone has ruined between 25,000 and 35,000 acres of farmland.
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