Statement by the President on Federal Disaster Assistance During 1964.

GOVERNOR Buford Ellington, Director of the Office of Emergency Planning, has reported to me that during the year 1964 the States asked for and will have received more Federal funds to help them relieve the burdens of the year's natural disasters than during any other year since passage of the Federal Disaster Act in 1950.

In response to requests from Governors, 25 areas in 21 States, territories, and dependencies were declared eligible during the year for Federal assistance under terms of the Disaster Act.

As of this date, a total of $71,393,200 of Federal assistance has been allocated to the States and local communities to assist them in restoring public property--such as roads, bridges, public utilities, and school buildings--damaged or destroyed by disasters last year.

The importance and value of this key Federal-State program is demonstrated impressively by the fact that during the 12 months of 1964 natural disasters touched the lives of more than one out of seven Americans. The disaster authorizations put 450 counties with a combined population of 28 million persons on the disaster list during the year.

Governor Ellington estimates that the Federal share of this cleanup activity will have reached $125 million when it is completed. The worst previous year was 1962 when the Federal share of disaster reconstruction amounted to almost $65 million.

The worst blow struck by the forces of nature last year was the earthquake which devastated the most populous part of Alaska on Good Friday, 1 year ago. This was the costliest disaster since the Federal assistance plan became effective. Allocations under the act will reach $60 million by present estimates--and other forms of Federal reconstruction assistance will total more than $250 million additional. The task of reconstruction in Alaska is 60 percent complete at the present time.

Only slightly less expensive than the Alaska earthquake was the great Christmas storm affecting five States in the Pacific Northwest. Also of major proportions were the Hurricanes Cleo, Dora, and Hilda which cut through Louisiana, Florida, and Georgia.

The disaster fund aid for the repair of public property is only one of more than a score of Federal disaster-aid programs which are brought to bear upon a stricken area of the Nation under the coordination of the Office of Emergency Planning in cooperation with the States.

Important and essential assistance is also afforded to victims of disaster by agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Public Health Service, the Office of Civil Defense, branches of the military services, the Bureau of Public Roads, the Housing and Home Finance Administration, the Small Business Administration, and the American Red Cross.