President Biden approves California emergency declaration, authorizes federal assistance

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency earlier this month for 13 of 58 of the state's counties affected by the massive amounts of snowfall from the severe storm in California in February. Friday, The White House announced President Joe Biden approved the emergency declaration. The declaration frees up resources for 13 counties including San Bernardino and Los Angeles. The governor specifically addressed the massive emergency relief efforts underway in San Bernardino County. "The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the counties of Amador, Butte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Lake, Los Angeles, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Francisco, San Mateo, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tulare, Tuolumne, and Yuba.