Graves Applauds Federal Disaster Declaration
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Sam Graves (MO-06) applauded the granting of a Major Disaster Declaration in response to severe storms and flooding from July 29 to August 14, 2023 in 33 Missouri counties, including Adair, Clark, Gentry, Grundy, Knox, Scotland, Shelby, and Worth Counties in North Missouri. The Declaration will provide Hazard Mitigation (HM) funding for the State of Missouri and Public Assistance (PA) for emergency work and the repair or replacement of disaster damaged public facilities in the impacted communities.
“This declaration is an important step toward helping the people of Baring and other communities impacted by these storms recover and rebuild,” said Graves. “These public assistance dollars are going to help rebuild critical infrastructure damaged by these storms and help these communities come back stronger than ever. Our communities may be small, but we’re strong. Many have already come together to start the rebuilding process and while this assistance is welcome, we still have a long ways left to go. I’m going to continue pushing to make sure the United States Postal Service restores full service to Baring.”
An EF-2 tornado occurred on August 4th destroying homes, businesses, the fire station and the Post Office in Baring. Graves recently called on the United States Postal Service to develop a plan to fully restore the Post Office in Baring.
The Declaration comes after Graves pressed Deanne Criswell, the Administrator of FEMA, to approve the declaration request earlier this week during a Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing. He joined the rest of the Missouri delegation in requesting approval of the declaration request.
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