Still fuming from a denial of federal aid for earthquake-battered Louisa County, Gov. Bob McDonnell has invited President Barack Obama to join him in Louisa next week during Obama's swing-state bus tour.
McDonnell, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, wrote in a letter Tuesday to Obama that "it would benefit your administration to understand the devastation brought on by this historic earthquake, and to see how the community's recovery will be hindered as a result of FEMA's denial of important emergency relief funds."
The Aug. 23 magnitude-5.8 earthquake that shook much of the East Coast was centered near Mineral.
The state was notified Friday that its request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for assistance for residents of Louisa was turned down. The declaration would have made federal grants and low-interest loans as well as unemployment assistance and crisis counseling available to homeowners, renters and businesses.
Damage assessments for residential properties are nearly $15 million, mostly in uninsured costs, McDonnell said.
FEMA's administrator said the agency determined that the damage to dwellings was not of such severity and magnitude that it is beyond the capabilities of the state, local governments and voluntary agencies.
The earthquake marked the second natural disaster for which McDonnell sought — and was denied — federal help. In May, FEMA turned down requests for help for areas hit by tornadoes in April, and McDonnell is appealing that decision as well.
Obama will weave through the state next week as part of a bus tour of Virginia and North Carolina on Oct. 17-19. He's on the road in key battleground states to promote his American Jobs Act, but the administration has yet to release a schedule of localities he plans to visit.
McDonnell, who declined to greet Obama at the airport during the president's last visit to Richmond in September, citing a scheduling conflict in Southwest Virginia, says he would appeal this "shocking" FEMA decision.
"I hope that your personal investment of time and experience of seeing the earthquake damage first-hand will provide information vital to your administration as you review our emergency relief funding appeal," he writes.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement