Merkley, Wyden Announce Over $20 Million in FEMA Reimbursement Relating to COVID, 2020 Labor Day Fires Emergency Measures

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced that Oregon will receive a total of $20,054,430.5 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help replenish costs related to emergency protective measures throughout the state of Oregon in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and 2020 Labor Day fires.

“As Oregon continues to recover from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and devastating wildfire events, we cannot let up on providing federal resources and support for our communities,” said Merkley. “This federal funding is crucial to ensuring our communities are able to recover from past emergencies and keep Oregonians healthy and safe from future events in every corner of the state.”

“Destructive wildfires and the continuing COVID-19 pandemic have added up to major costs for Oregon,” Wyden said. “I’m gratified our state has secured this federal assistance to help pay for the response to this one-two punch of disasters, and I’ll keep fighting for similar resources to help Oregon rebound and recover.”

Award amounts and recipients can be found below:

• $1,894,950 to Oregon Department of Human Services for providing temporary and expanded medical care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• $2,677,269.05 to Oregon State Police for emergency protective measures relating to the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire.
• $15,482,211.53 to Oregon Department of Forestry for emergency protective measures as a result of wildfires and straight-line winds in 2020. These funds are intended to take care of costs relating to the emergency response, fire suppression activities, dispatching resources as necessary to the affected areas, and maintaining a presence until the fire in Lane County was fully contained.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Senators Merkley and Wyden have worked hard to secure nearly $600 million in FEMA funding and awards. To date, the Senators have delivered a total of $989,311,163.88 in FEMA funding relating to emergency work and public assistance related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Labor Day fires.

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