THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                          (Detroit, Michigan)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                    January 8, 1999

                 PRESIDENT CLINTON DECLARES AN EMERGENCY
                     EXISTS IN THE STATE OF ILLINOIS

The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Illinois and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area struck by snow beginning on January 1, 1999, and continuing.

The President's action makes Federal funding available to affected local governments in the following 34 counties: Adams, Brown, Cass, Champaign, Cook, DeWitt, DuPage, Ford, Fulton, Grundy, Hancock, Henderson, Iroquois, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Knox, Lake, Livingston, Logan, Marshall, Mason, McDonough, McLean, Menard, Peoria, Piatt, Pike, Schuyler, Stark, Tazewell, Warren, Will, and Woodford Counties.

FEMA intends to provide assistance for emergency protective measures undertaken to save lives, protect public health and safety, and property. The assistance will be provided for a period of 48 hours.

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