Oklahoma declared a federal disaster

John Pape in Disaster News Network: As Oklahoma struggled to dig out from under as much as 20 inches of snow dumped on the state by what many are calling the “Groundhog Day Storm,” President Barrack Obama approved Gov. Mary Fallin’s request to declare all of the state’s 77 counties as a federal disaster.

Although the declaration did not specify reimbursement to state and local governments of the response costs, the declaration is expected to be amended to include them.. Those expenses could include such things as personnel overtime costs as well as costs associated with operating shelters and clearing snow and ice covered roads.

Even recovery operations began, the state remained under a statewide declaration of emergency issued by Fallin on Monday.

Fallin spent most of the day in the State Emergency Operations Center, which was activated as the storm approached. Among the agencies working in the EOC were the Salvation Army, Oklahoma Military Department, Oklahoma State Department of Health, American Red Cross, Oklahoma Department of Human Services, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Oklahoma Corporation Commission and Oklahoma Department of Transportation….