Flood threat prompts Valley Congressmen to call for high level of federal readiness

FRESNO - Three Central Valley Congressmen have called on President Bush and the federal government "to stand ready to expedite a federal disaster declaration for sixteen Northern and Central California counties."

In a letter to the President, Congressmen Jim Costa, D-Fresno, Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, and George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, cited six weeks of heavy rain as the reason they are urging a high level of federal readiness.  The severe rains, they wrote the President, have already resulted in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declaring that a state of emergency exists in the sixteen counties.  Included were the counties of: Calaveras, Fresno, Kings, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare and Tuolumne in the central part of the state.

Expressing their concern after visiting local areas threatened with flooding, Costa, Nunes and Radanovich urged the President and the federal government to "work with and remain on close watch with California and local officials...if we are to avoid the consequences of a natural disaster such as the one that befell the Gulf Coast states last fall."

The full text of the letter is in the accompanying PDF file.

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