Gov. Sanders signs executive order to declare emergency, authorize funds for Arkansas

Raven Moore
·2 min read
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has signed an executive order to declare an emergency and authorize funds for severe storms, tornadoes and flooding for the state of Arkansas.

In a statement Governor Huckabee states that on or about May 24, continuing severe storms, flooding and tornadoes began in Arkansas, causing danger, hardship and suffering which now “warrants this executive action.”

Therefore I, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, acting under the authority vested in me as Governor of the State of Arkansas, and pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. §§ 12-75-101, et seq., do hereby declare a state of emergency and direct the sum of $250,000.00 to be obligated from the Governor’s Disaster Response and Recovery Fund to be used at the discretion of the Director of the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management to defray both program and administrative costs.”

Governer Sarah Huckabee Sanders

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She also declared that a regional emergency exists in the State of Arkansas as applied to “commercial vehicles hauling heavy equipment, oversized loads, transformers, necessary hardware, and other transmission and distribution equipment to line crews for the purpose of restoring power to the citizens of the state” and “emergency response vehicles such as, but not limited to, utility vehicles, bucket trucks, and electric utility supply trucks actively responding to the storms and related damage.”

The executive order authorizes the aforementioned emergency response vehicles to bypass all Arkansas Department of Transportation weigh station facilities through June 9, 2024.

This authorization does not include vehicles that require permits to operate on Arkansas’ roadways. This authorization does not relieve size and weight restrictions. This declaration only applies to weigh stations and to vehicles traveling in convoy.

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In the conclusion of the statement, Governor Sanders said that she is suspending all provisions that regulate assistance that can be given by government agencies in order to more readily help affected subdivisions.

I hereby invoke the emergency executive powers vested in me under Ark. Code Ann. §§ 12-75-101 et seq., as amended, and suspend all provisions of regulating statutes prescribing procedures for the conduct of the Office of State Procurement, the Arkansas Building Authority, the Office of Personnel Management, and all other state departments and agencies to render maximum assistance to the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment and the Arkansas Department of Public Safety, through the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management, relative to any potential impediment to the rapid and orderly rendering of assistance to affected political subdivisions.”

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders

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