Biden approves Oregon major disaster declaration for arctic blast damage

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – President Joe Biden approved Oregon’s federal major disaster declaration request on Saturday to help the state recover from January’s deadly winter weather, the White House announced.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek requested the declaration in March on behalf of the state and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians after a Preliminary Public Assistance Damage Assessment totaled over $48 million.

“I am grateful to President Biden for answering our call for help following the January ice and wind emergency and to our federal delegation for amplifying this critical need,” Gov. Kotek said. “This opportunity for federal assistance will make a significant difference across communities that are still grappling with significant damage from the storm.”

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The disaster declaration comes after the winter weather blanketed the region with snow and ice and downed hundreds of trees along with powerlines.

The severe winter weather led to 17 deaths in Oregon and caused over 238,900 Oregonians to lose power at the peak of power outages, with some households losing power for two weeks, officials said.

Additionally, over 1,300 small businesses sustained substantial economic losses from the storm, totaling an estimated $165,331,014 from several factors including lost wages and revenue decline, the governor’s office says.

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The declaration will provide supplemental grants through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Public Assistance Program to state, tribal, and local governments along with certain nonprofits to help with costs from responding and recovering from the winter storms damage from Jan. 10-22.

Funding is available on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and repair, or replacement of damaged facilities in several counties including Benton, Clackamas, Hood River, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Multnomah, and Tillamook counties.

Oregon’s Office of Emergency Management told KOIN 6 News there is no cap on federal funding for the disaster. Officials said funding is a reimbursement program, so funds will be based on requests from state, local and tribal governments.

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The Office of Emergency Management said federal funds will reimburse 75% of costs.

The Office of Emergency Management previously told KOIN 6 News that Gov. Kotek did not request the president to authorize individual assistance programs that would provide aid to individuals and households for housing, personal property losses, transportation, medical costs, and child care expenses, because the storm damage did not meet FEMA’s threshold for that type of assistance.

Reaction from Clackamas County

Clackamas County’s Disaster Management Program Director Daniel Nibouar said they estimated county damages around $2.46 million. The county accounted for about $350,000 of that total, while the remainder came from cities and special districts within Clackamas County.

“Seemingly the two most impacted areas of the county was, in general, the Lake Oswego area. There was a lot of ice damage, a lot of trees down and a lot of power outages for a while,” Nibouar said. “And then also up on Mount Hood. Welches, Government Camp area had some significant ice.”

Unlike other noteworthy storms, Nibouar said the county was caught off guard when a significant amount of pipes burst, which led to the need to get bottled water to residents.

“I think the frozen pipes was a little bit of a twist that we hadn’t seen as much in previous incidents,” he said. “Getting information in so we understand where the impacts are so we know where to best put our resources” is important.

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