MADRID, Jan. 1 (EUROPA PRESS) – The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has announced the declaration of major disaster in the state of Colorado due to forest fires that have already destroyed more than half a thousand homes and caused the evacuation of dozens of thousands of people since the middle of the week. The fire has already destroyed more than 2,400 hectares.
The president has also assigned the distribution of federal aid to complement state and local recovery efforts in areas affected by wildfires, as reported by the White House this Saturday.
Assistance may include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.
Damage assessments continue in other areas, and major disaster status designation for more counties and other additional forms of assistance are not ruled out after analyzes are complete.
This Saturday the Boulder County Office of Emergency Management reported that there are two people missing. “We are going to continue investigating,” explained a spokeswoman for the agency, Jennifer Churchill, quoted by CNN.
The state governor, Jared Polis, has also declared a state of emergency throughout the region, while the National Meteorological Service (NWS) has warned of a “life-threatening situation” in the affected areas. .
«580 houses have been lost in Superior and its surroundings, a shopping center and a hotel were also engulfed by flames ”, detailed the county police chief, Joe Pelle, according to statements collected by the CNN television network. More than 20,000 people have been evacuated.
The “historic” winds from the wildfires “have injured at least six people,” added Pelle.
The National Weather Service has posted on social media that smaller fires have also been reported in at least two other areas in recent hours.
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