Governor Phil Bredesen has asked President Obama to declare Claiborne, Fayette, Hancock, Haywood and Shelby counties federal disaster areas following severe storms, straight line winds, flooding, hail, and tornadoes that began June 12, 2009 and continued through the next week.

Should this initial request for public assistance be granted, the five Tennessee counties would have access to varying levels of federal assistance.

"Communities and first responders provide for the immediate life-safety needs of their citizens, and federal aid could bring these local governments a measure of relief from bearing the full costs of the emergency response," said Gov. Bredesen. "I want to thank the local and state agencies that responded so quickly to obtain damage assessments to support this request to President Obama."

As a result of the storms, preliminary damage assessments estimate that more than $12.5 million of costs that are eligible for federal assistance under the Stafford Act have or will be incurred by state and local governments and public utilities.

The most severe impacts to the affected communities were loss of power, impassable roads due to widespread debris, road damage and downed power lines. At the height of the power outages, approximately 136,000 services were without power.

The National Weather Services attributes much of the storm activity to a rather rare weather phenomenon called a "derecho" with sustained straight-line winds of at least 58 mph. An EF1 tornado was also confirmed to have struck the city of Bartlett in Shelby County on June 12.

The federal Public Assistance Program authorizes a number of benefits for state and local governments and public utilities to reclaim expenses relating to debris removal, overtime and property damages for civic buildings.

Local and state agencies expended considerable resources responding to the emergency, restoring public infrastructure and removing debris. The federal program will provide reimbursement for 75 percent of the eligible costs incurred by local or state government. Utilities are also eligible for 75 percent reimbursement, but must pay the matching 25 percent themselves.

Additional information about state actions and federal assistance for affected counties will be released as details become available.