THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                         (Cartagena, Colombia)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                    August 30, 2000

PRESIDENT CLINTON DECLARES A MAJOR DISASTER EXISTS IN THE STATE OF

MONTANA

The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Montana and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area struck by wildfires on July 13, 2000 and continuing.

The President's action makes Federal funding available to affected individuals in a 28 county area. The counties include Beaverhead, Broadwater, Carbon, Cascade, Deer Lodge, Flathead, Gallatin, Glacier, Granite, Jefferson, Judith Basin, Lake, Lewis and Clark, Lincoln, Madison, Meagher, Mineral, Missoula, Park, Pondera, Powell, Ravalli, Sanders, Silver Bow, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Teton, and Wheatland and the Flathead Indian Reservation and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

Assistance can include disaster housing, grants, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

Federal funding is also available on a cost share basis for hazard mitigation measures.

James L. Witt, Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), named Carlos Mitchell as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.

The Agency said that damage surveys are continuing in other areas, and additional assistance and counties may be added after the assessments are completed.

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