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THE WHITE HOUSE

                     OFFICE OF THE PRESS SECRETARY
                           (Istanbul, Turkey)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 17, 1999

The President today declared an emergency exists in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and ordered Federal aid to supplement commonwealth and local recovery efforts in the area struck by Hurricane Lenny on November 17, 1999, and continuing.

The President's action authorizes FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Direct Federal assistance will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.

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