Cantwell Remarks at WA Flood Briefing

Cantwell Remarks at WA Flood Briefing

"Federal support is on the way to help those local officials and first responders who have been working 24/7 get a little bit of relief," says Cantwell

TUKWILA, WA - Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, joined Washington state Governor Bob Ferguson for a press conference following a briefing about the impact of flooding in King County and the announcement of the approved Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) expedited Emergency Declaration.

After the briefing, Sen. Cantwell gave the following remarks. Video of her remarks is available HERE.

"The good news is that federal support is on the way to help those local officials and first responders who have been working 24/7 get a little bit of relief," said Sen. Cantwell. "I hope they do focus on these infrastructure issues, the ones that cost us so much to our economy, and allow people to … go back and forth across our state. I hope they'll help with these evacuations, and I hope Washingtonians will continue to heed evacuation notices."

A transcript of Sen. Cantwell's full remarks is available HERE.

Yesterday, Sen. Cantwell joined Washington state's entire Congressional delegation in a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to approve Governor Ferguson's request for an expedited Emergency Declaration for the storms and flooding affecting residents statewide. Today, after President Trump approved the declaration, Sen. Cantwell released this statement:

"Thank you for the fast emergency declaration! Thank you for helping respond to our infrastructure needs. Thank you for supporting our first responders. Thank you!"

An expediated Emergency Declaration will provide FEMA resources for Benton, Chelan, Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, King, Kittitas, Lewis, Mason, Pierce, Skagit, Snohomish, Thurston, Wahkiakum, Whatcom, and Yakima counties, in addition to the Samish Indian Nation and Tribal nations within the affected counties. This includes federal funding and assets to remove debris and provide medical care, transportation assistance, and search and rescue services.

Sen. Cantwell is continuing to work with the National Weather Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, FEMA, the Small Business Administration, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Army Corps of Engineers, and other federal agencies to ensure our communities have emergency management resources and will be able to recover.