Gov. Gavin Newsom requests emergency declaration from Biden amid storms

The request for federal aid for San Bernardino County and more than 20 other counties in California came as another storm moves in across much of the state.

As Southern California prepares for another rainstorm, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statement Thursday evening, March 9, requesting President Biden to issue a presidential emergency declaration authorizing aid to communities already grappling with the aftermath of the recent blizzard.

Newsom requested President Biden approve direct federal assistance for Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. The aid will be used to “meet critical emergency protection requirements in the form of generators, road clearance equipment and supplies, and sheltering and potential mass care assistance,” the request said.

“The sustained force and longevity of persistent heavy rains, high winds, freeze warnings and record snowfall have already strained local and State resources,” Newsom’s request reads.

In Southern California, the San Bernardino Mountains have been hit particularly hard by the blizzard. In recent weeks, the region’s snowfall has trapped people in their homes, left them without medication, and required multiple state and local agencies to step in. Amid some frustrations and demands for assistance from authorities, many locals took toward assisting each other directly.

Newsom declared a state of emergency due to the storms March 1.

Thursday’s statement also requests aid for more than 20 other counties across California, including Fresno, Kern Sacramento, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara counties.