Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 31, 1993 TAG: 9308310260
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short
Wilder asked for a major disaster declaration after tornadoes caused four deaths, more than 200 injuries and nearly $50 million in damage on Aug. 6. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has not responded to Wilder's Aug. 10 request.
"We have been patient . . . extraordinarily patient . . . but we cannot keep the people waiting," Wilder wrote in a letter to Clinton.
Wilder said state officials have been in touch almost daily with James Lee Witt, director of FEMA, but have received no official response. He asked Clinton to order FEMA to take immediate action.
"It is imperative that federal aid be made available so that the affected businesses, historic property and, most importantly, the citizens can begin their return towards normalcy," Wilder wrote.
"The people of the affected areas need to get on with their lives. And if we are not going to receive assistance, we need to know why not."
Most of the tornado damage was done in the Petersburg and Colonial Heights area. Three of the four deaths occurred when a twister slashed a diagonal path through a Wal-Mart store in Colonial Heights.
The same tornado also caused extensive damage to Petersburg's historic Old Towne district and to Pocahontas Island, which was settled by free blacks before the Civil War.
by CNB