Wilson Asks President to Declare Disaster Area

Gov. Pete Wilson asked President Bush on Saturday to declare a federal disaster area in five California counties hit this month by rainstorms that left eight people dead, five missing and an estimated $125 million in property damage.

If Bush grants the governor’s request to declare the hard-hit counties of Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, San Bernardino and Kern federal disaster areas, those regions will become eligible for financial aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Public Assistance Program.

“It is clear that the havoc (wreaked by the storms) is beyond the ability of state and local government to provide the funds needed for a total recovery,” Wilson wrote in a letter that he dictated to his staff in Sacramento from Florida, where his father is celebrating his 90th birthday.

“I am requesting the federal declaration to ease the burden on local government, to provide additional assistance to area residents and businesses, and to ensure the delivery of needed services to affected citizens,” Wilson said in the letter.

The majority of the damage--$94 million worth--was to roads, flood control systems and other public property washed out or disrupted by the rains, according to the state Office of Emergency Services. Any funds granted by the federal government would be used to rebuild those systems, said James Lee, Wilson’s press secretary.

In addition to the public toll, the governor’s office estimated Saturday that Southern California residents suffered about $18 million in damage to private property.

The storms pushed creeks over their banks and into Malibu living rooms, deluged more than 60 recreational vehicles at a Ventura RV park, and caused the deaths of eight people, including a pregnant woman and her fiance, who were smothered by a mudslide.

Wilson’s letter also asked Bush for aid from the federal Individual and Family Grant program, which could help owners of uninsured private property recoup some of their losses, Lee said.

The Small Business Administration estimated that businesses sustained damages of $8.5 million. Wilson asked that agency to provide low-interest reconstruction loans to uninsured businesses damaged by the storm.

“It’s pretty much the same procedure we went through for the Oakland hills fire and the Loma Prieta quake,” said Lee.

He said Wilson will return to California today and may meet with Bush on Tuesday, when both are expected to attend Republican fund-raisers in Los Angeles and San Francisco.