THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
_________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                   June 16, 2009

The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of South Dakota and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms and flooding beginning on March 11, 2009, and continuing.
Federal funding is available to State and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms and flooding in the counties of Brown, Butte, Campbell, Corson, Day, Dewey, Edmunds, Harding, Marshall, McPherson, Perkins, Roberts, Spink, and Ziebach and the portions of the Cheyenne River Reservation and Standing Rock Reservation that lie within these counties.
Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures for all counties and Tribes within the State.
W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Nancy M. Casper as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area. 
FEMA said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the State and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  FEMA (202) 646-4600.