TOPEKA -Governor Sam Brownback is requesting a presidential declaration for the Public Assistance program for the incident period of September 2-12.

Counties named in the Oct. 10 request are Cheyenne, Cowley, Ellis, Graham, Greenwood, Kingman, Norton, Rooks, Russell, Sedgwick and Sumner. Brownback also requested activation of the Hazard Mitigation Program statewide.

The governor signed the initial State of Disaster Emergency for the incident period on Sept. 23.
According to the National Weather Service, prior to the incident period for this declaration request, south central Kansas received excessive rain.

On Aug. 18 and 19, 4-8 inches fell across parts of Sedgwick, Sumner, Butler and Cowley Counties. This initial rainfall event created saturated soils that were unable to tolerate the second excessive rainfall event of 6-10 inches that occurred on Sept 8-9. These flooding events happened over the same area in a short amount of time, resulting in record and near record river crests and significant flooding.

After completing preliminary damage assessments in coordination with Federal Emergency Management Agency, KDEM believes these counties have met the criteria to qualify for a presidential disaster declaration, opening the way for the federal Public Assistance Program.
In the request letter, the governor noted the personal and economic effects on the counties and cited the extent of damage to infrastructure in several counties.

The Public Assistance Program provides grants to state, territorial, local, and federally recognized tribal governments and certain private non-profit entities to assist them with the response to and recovery from disasters. Specifically, the program provides assistance for debris removal, emergency protective measures, and permanent restoration of infrastructure. Individuals, homeowners, renters, and business owners are not eligible applicants under the program.