U.S. President George W. Bush issued major disaster declarations for California Wednesday, facilitating broader federal assistance to the wildfire-devastated state.
The president's action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in the seven California counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura, according to a statement issued from the White House.
The assistance include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.
Federal funds are also available for Californian state and local governments, as well as related nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis to remove debris and rebuild facilities.
Also on Wednesday, Bush chaired a cabinet meeting and listened to the briefings made by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)chief David Paulison and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff via video link from California.
"Americans all across this land care deeply about them (wildfire victims)," the president said.
"We're concerned about their safety. We're concerned about their property," he added.
Previously, Bush had announced federal emergency Tuesday for the seven Californian counties mentioned above, kicking off the federal assistance process.
Since Sunday, over a dozen wildfires have burned across 1,600 square kilometer, killing six people, destroying more than 1,600 homes and prompting the evacuation of over 500,000 people in southern California.
Source: Xinhua
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