WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Obama signed the declaration allowing federal aid to assist state and local response efforts on Saturday, the KFVS local CBS affiliate reported.
The state of emergency authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate disaster relief in over half of the state’s 114 counties and the city of St. Louis.
Obama signed the order at the request of Governor Jay Nixon, whose state has been battling storms and flooding since December 22.
The death toll from the floods stood at 23 as of Friday, 15 of whom had died in Missouri and eight in neighbouring Illinois.
Four people – two in Illinois, one in Missouri and one in Oklahoma – were missing.
Hundreds of homes in the Midwest have been damaged as Mississippi, Meramec and Missouri rivers overflowed after heavy rainfall this week.
