SEATTLE — Federal disaster aid will be available to individuals and businesses in Grays Harbor and Lewis counties who need somewhere to stay, help with repairs, or other assistance after last week’s violent storms and widespread flooding, officials said Sunday.
Gov. Chris Gregoire said other counties may be added to the list after teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency finish assessing the damage.
Individuals may be eligible for rent payments for temporary housing, medical and dental care, funeral assistance, grants to replace personal and business property, unemployment assistance for up to 26 weeks for those who lost their jobs because of the storms, and low-interest loans to pay for repairs not covered by insurance.
Gregoire commended the federal government for its fast efforts to help people deal with the aftermath of last week’s storms. On Saturday, President Bush declared Washington’s flooding a major disaster, making federal recovery aid available to state and local governments.
Sunday’s announcement expands the help to individuals and businesses, but only in two of the six counties affected by the previous declaration.
“So many of our neighbors are working to recover from these storms and I would like to thank President Bush and federal officials from FEMA for their response to my request for federal aid,” Gregoire said. “I know that this help cannot bring lives back to the way they were, but it will bring much needed help.”
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said it was helpful having the FEMA inspectors get onto a helicopter to tour the affected communities Saturday.
“All of us were amazed at the torrential downpour, but when you get up into the air and see the mile after mile of devastation … it is overwhelming,” Murray said Sunday. “I’ve been through a number of disasters here, from earthquakes to previous floods and this one to me is one of the most widespread I’ve seen.”
Murray said she was impressed by the number of volunteer organizations already helping people in Washington state. She promised more help was on the way.
Storms beginning on Dec. 1 cut electric power, destroyed buildings and caused widespread flooding, which closed a 20-mile section of I-5, the region’s main north-south route, for most of last week. Six deaths were blamed on the disaster: four people in southwestern Washington and a pair of hikers in the Cascade Mountains. At least one person was missing, but police in rural Winlock considered their search for the elderly man a recovery mission, not a rescue.
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