S-2605.1  _______________________________________________

               SUBSTITUTE SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 8013

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      56th Legislature     1999 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Ways & Means (originally sponsored by Senators T. Sheldon, Rasmussen, Horn and Sheahan)

Read first time 04/05/1999.

Requesting federal assistance for areas of Washington that received record rainfall this winter.

    TO THE HONORABLE WILLIAM J. CLINTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:

    We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

    WHEREAS, Parts of Western Washington received the highest amount of rainfall in state history between the months of November and February, raining for ninety-one consecutive days and producing over fifty-five inches of rain in King County; and

    WHEREAS, Parts of the Olympic Peninsula, i.e., Lilliwaup, received over one hundred fourteen inches of rain in a four-month period; and

    WHEREAS, Sixty-one homes have been damaged and twenty-six homes are uninhabitable in the area known as Carlyon Beach, with property losses estimated at over ten million dollars; and

    WHEREAS, Ground water flooding and landslides in Thurston County have directly impacted at least seven hundred and sixty-five residents, many of whom are elderly or have special needs; and

    WHEREAS, Ground water problems will cost over two million dollars to repair and currently no water or sewer systems are in operation; and

    WHEREAS, Shoreline bulkheads are failing, and public facilities expenses are estimated at one million dollars, excluding the cost of geotechnical assistance; and

    WHEREAS, Washington State Department of Transportation estimates of highway damages reach eleven million two hundred two thousand dollars, and ten million dollars of those damages are in Mason County alone; and

    WHEREAS, Local government estimates of damages to county roads and city streets reach seven million three hundred ninety-two thousand four hundred thirty-five dollars; and

    WHEREAS, Governor Locke's emergency proclamation now includes six western counties and directs state government to support emergency response activities as needed around the state and authorizes the Washington Military Department and its Emergency Management Division to coordinate state agencies in the affected areas; and

    WHEREAS, County officials are continuing to assess damages to determine sufficient damage for justification of federal assistance; and

    WHEREAS, When damage from an event is so great it is beyond the capability of local and state government to repair, the Governor can ask the President to declare a disaster, thus making a variety of federal disaster assistance programs available to help restore communities to their predisaster condition; and

    WHEREAS, The federal disaster assistance programs available may include housing and relocation assistance, individual and family grants, funding to restore public infrastructure and roads, tax exemptions for the relocation of evacuated citizens, funding for geotechnical studies to prevent future damage, and hazard mitigation;

    NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that if the Governor requests federal assistance, the President and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will respond favorably to the request and authorize the needed maximum available disaster recovery support to address the needs of Washington's citizens devastated by the record rainfall.

    BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable William J. Clinton, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.

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