Biden declares emergency in New York due to severe winter storm

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that an emergency exists in the State of New York and ordered Federal assistance to supplement State and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from a severe winter storm beginning on December 23, 2022, and continuing.

Report informs, citing the White House, that Biden's action authorized the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the counties of Erie and Genesee.

Last week, a large part of the United States was hit by cold snap, strong gusts of wind and snowfall. Temperatures have plunged to near-record lows in many states.

Severe weather warnings have affected about 175 million Americans who live in the central and eastern parts of the country. The storm is expected to continue into this week.