Bush declares disaster in NMI

President George W. Bush announced Tuesday his declaration of a major disaster for the CNMI due to damage from Typhoon Nabi two months ago.

The president’s declaration was made under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. It will allow the Commonwealth to receive federal relief and recovery assistance amounting to 75 percent of eligible costs.

Island residents are not eligible for individual assistance under the declaration.

However, government agencies and certain private nonprofit organizations may receive funding for emergency work and the repair and replacement of disaster-damaged facilities. They are also eligible to receive assistance for actions taken to prevent or reduce long time risk to life and property from natural hazards.

“Public assistance and hazard mitigation will be provided. Consistent with the requirement that federal assistance be supplemental, any federal funds provided under the Stafford Act for Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation will be limited to 75 percent of the total eligible costs in the designated areas,” Bush told Gov. Juan N. Babauta in a Nov. 8 letter.

Bush also informed the governor that the Federal Emergency Management Agency would coordinate federal assistance efforts and designate specific areas eligible for such assistance. Woodrow Goins of FEMA will serve as the federal coordinating officer.

“[The declaration] took a little long because the president has been busy with other disasters in states,” Babauta told the Saipan Tribune. “But we’re going to be getting up to 75 percent of all the damages. This is a major accomplishment in our effort to get typhoon aid due to Nabi.”

The estimated cost of the damage incurred by the CNMI due to Typhoon Nabi is a little over $2 million.

Babauta drew criticism from the House of Representatives when he declared a state of emergency due to Nabi on Sept. 1, 2005. His opponents maintained that the damage from Nabi was not severe enough to justify such a declaration.

In a separate letter to acting FEMA director R. David Paulison, Bush said he found that the damage in certain CNMI areas resulting from the typhoon was “of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant a major disaster declaration.”

The president instructed FEMA to allocate available funds to provide public assistance and hazard mitigation in the designated areas and any other forms of assistance under the Stafford Act.

FEMA may also grant other needs assistance, if the CNMI requests it, but such federal funding will also be limited to 75 percent of the total eligible costs.

“You are authorized to make adjustments as warranted to the non-federal cost shares as provided under the Insular Areas Act,” Bush said. “Furthermore, you are authorized to make changes to this declaration to the extent allowable under the Stafford Act.”

Pursuant to the disaster declaration, FEMA will send five personnel, including three from Hawaii, to set up a temporary office in the CNMI and facilitate the release of typhoon aid, Babauta said.

Babauta requested White House to issue a disaster declaration on Sept. 21, 2005.

Earlier reports showed that the number of evacuees in schools and temporary shelters reached over 700 on Sept. 1, the third and last day of the typhoon.

The governor’s authorized representative, Vicky Villagomez, was also quoted as saying that, while some houses sustained minor damages, there are some that were totally damaged during the typhoon.