THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                           (London, England)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                  December 13, 2000

                THE PRESIDENT DECLARES A MAJOR DISASTER
                     EXISTS IN THE STATE OF WYOMING

     The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State

of Wyoming and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe winter storms beginning on October 31, 2000, and continuing through November 20, 2000.

The President's action makes Federal funding available to affected local governments in a four county area. The counties include Crook, Goshen, Platte, and Weston.

Federal funding is available to eligible local governments on a cost-sharing basis for the repair or replacement of public facilities damaged by the severe winter storms. 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 Steven R. Emory as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.

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