CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Gov. Kim Reynolds is defending her administration's turnaround time for a presidential disaster proclamation request that would get federal help for Iowans following last week's derecho.
Local officials usually assess the damage and then communicate their needs to the state, Reynolds explained Monday at a press conference at the National Guard Armory in Cedar Rapids.
"In order to let the locals focus on restoring power, we were able to work outside the box with FEMA to use some of the satellite images to be able to turn this around and validate the resources we had to qualify for us the major disaster declaration that brings additional resources to the state of Iowa," Reynolds explained.
Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) officials were on the ground Monday to assess the damage in eastern Iowa.
President Donald Trump said he approved the state's disaster application Monday morning. Reynolds officially requested $4 billion in federal relief money over the weekend.
White House officials have confirmed the president will visit Cedar Rapids Tuesday to meet with Reynolds and local officials.
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