Kansas Governor Sam Brownback issued a State of Disaster Emergency Proclamation today for 19 counties impacted by the damaging winds, hail and destructive tornados of the storms that swept through the state on Tuesday.
"This Emergency Proclamation activates the disaster response and recovery portions of the Kansas Response Plan," Gov. Brownback said. "My administration will continue to do everything it can to assist local governments and emergency responders."
The governor issued the proclamation under the authority granted by the Kansas Emergency Management Act. The proclamation includes Butler, Chautauqua, Coffey, Cowley, Crawford, Douglas, Franklin, Harper, Kingman, Labette, Leavenworth, Marion, Montgomery, McPherson, Reno, Republic, Sumner, Wabaunsee and Wilson Counties.
"The full impact of the storms remains to be seen. It will take a while to get the debris removed and get things back to some normalcy for some of the affected communities," Brownback said.
Brownback said damage assessments will be carried out by local and state officials to determine the extent of the damage to see what federal assistance might be available.
Source: http://governor.ks.gov/media-room/media-releases/2012/03/01/governor-issues-state-of-disaster-emergency-proclamation-for-counties-impacted-by-tuesday-storms
