President Biden Approves Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for Hurricane Hilary; County of Riverside Statement

LA QUINTA – Supervisor V. Manuel Perez, in coordination with the Riverside County Executive Office and Emergency Management Department, provides the following County of Riverside statement on President Biden’s approval of a presidential major disaster declaration for Hurricane Hilary:

“This is huge, and it is a very good thing!

“Hurricane Hilary touched just about every city and unincorporated community in the Coachella Valley. It’s the most costly natural disaster in county history, and most of the damage was in the Coachella Valley. The hurricane was unique and never happened before in our lifetime.

“Riverside County coordinated and mobilized before the storm hit us, and had many successes in getting our community members prepared, sending a wireless alert to all residents for the first time in our history, and keeping people out of danger. Our county and our cities have done a tremendous amount of work in response to the storm, and the work of transportation departments was exceptional in getting roads back up. But recovery is the longest period of a disaster, and there are many costs that have been incurred as we restore impacted infrastructure.

“The declaration will provide reimbursement to the county and cities for the repairs needed to public property, including county buildings, city facilities and public streets.

“We are very happy to get this news that President Biden granted a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for Hurricane Hilary yesterday. On behalf of the County of Riverside, I would like to acknowledge and thank President Biden, Governor Newsom, California’s entire federal delegation, our state legislative representatives, my colleagues in local government, and many others for their support of the Coachella Valley’s recovery efforts.”

Riverside County will be coordinating with Cal OES to schedule a briefing for Operational Area partners (Riverside County cities, Tribal nations and special districts) where additional guidance for the federal Public Assistance process and cost eligibility will be given.

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Supervisor V. Manuel Perez represents the Fourth Supervisorial District on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. The largest district in the county by geography, the 4th District covers eastern Riverside County, from Whitewater, stretching across the entire Coachella Valley south to the Salton Sea, up Highway 74 to Idyllwild and the mountain communities, and heading east of the Coachella Valley to Blythe and the Colorado River.

Supervisor Perez’s office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.