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Obama Signs Oklahoma Disaster Declaration, All 77 Counties Now Under State Of Emergency

A tornado struck the Best Value Inn on Southeast 44th Street and Interstate 35
Jacob McCleland
/
KGOU
A tornado struck the Best Value Inn on Southeast 44th Street and Interstate 35

President Obama signed a disaster declaration Tuesday for areas of Oklahoma affected by severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds and flooding in early May.

It makes federal funding available to individuals whose property was damaged in storms in Cleveland, Grady and Oklahoma counties May 5-10.

Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

The U.S. Small Business Administration's Sacramento-based field operations center said businesses and nonprofits can borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace real estate, machinery, equipment, inventory, or other assets. Homeowners can receive up to $200,000 to replace real estate, and up to $40,000 for personal property.

Gov. Mary Fallin requested the disaster declaration on May 19. Since then, the state has experienced widespread rainfall and flash flooding. The Federal Emergency Management Agency says additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

The governor also issuedan amended executive order Tuesday afternoon expanding the initial disaster declaration to include all 77 Oklahoma counties. It allows state agencies responding to the month-long severe weather episode to make emergency purchases without worrying about limitations or bidding requirements. It ends 30 days from the day it was issued.

Fallin, state emergency managers and local officials will take an aerial tour of storm and flood damage in southern Oklahoma Wednesday. She'll start the morning in Purcell and tour the damage on foot before flying over the Lake Texoma area.

Fallin plans to meet with U.S. Army Col. Richard Pratt, the district engineer for the Tulsa District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. They'll cross the Red River and meet with media Wednesday afternoon in Denison, Texas.

Dozens of state highways remain closed Wednesday morning in counties stretching from central and northern parts of Oklahoma to the borders of Texas and Arkansas.

At the county level, damage was even more widespread as creeks and rivers swelled out of their banks.

While the visual image of powerful tornadoes may be more eye-catching, emergency management officials say widespread flooding takes a bigger toll on road, bridges and other public infrastructure.

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Brian Hardzinski is from Flower Mound, Texas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. He began his career at KGOU as a student intern, joining KGOU full time in 2009 as Operations and Public Service Announcement Director. He began regularly hosting Morning Edition in 2014, and became the station's first Digital News Editor in 2015-16. Brian’s work at KGOU has been honored by Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI), the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, the Oklahoma Associated Press Broadcasters, and local and regional chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists. Brian enjoys competing in triathlons, distance running, playing tennis, and entertaining his rambunctious Boston Terrier, Bucky.
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