August 30, 2012

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has declared federal emergencies in areas of Louisiana and Mississippi hit hard by Isaac, moving to speed federal aid and recovery efforts to the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast.

Obama signed the orders late Wednesday covering 35 parishes in Louisiana and 34 counties in Mississippi.

The White House said in a statement that the disaster declarations ordered authorities to expedite federal aid in areas affected by Isaac.

The move makes the federal funding available to state and eligible local governments and certain nonprofit organizations for emergency work in the stricken areas.

According to a White House press release, President Obama declared major disaster areas exist in Mississippi and Louisiana, and "ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by Hurricane Isaac beginning on August 26, 2012, and continuing."

For Mississippi:

Federal funding is available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work in the counties of Amite, Attala, Carroll, Clarke, Copiah, Covington, Forrest, George, Greene, Grenada, Hancock, Harrison, Hinds, Holmes, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lincoln, Madison, Marion, Montgomery, Pearl River, Perry, Pike, Rankin, Stone, Walthall, Wayne, Wilkinson, and Yazoo.

For Louisiana:

Federal funding is available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work in the parishes of Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Cameron, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Franklin, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lafourche, Livingston, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Orleans, Ouachita, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Martin, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Vermilion, Washington, and West Baton Rouge.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/30/obama-isaac-disaster-decla...

President Obama declares Louisiana and Mississippi as 'major ...