WASHINGTON, DC - After being in a mega drought for multiple years, California finally got some much-needed rain. However, the onslaught of winter storms caused damage across the country, with California hit one of the hardest. Recently, Congressmen Salud Carbajal (CA-24) and Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) announced they will be leading a group of California lawmakers to create and pass a disaster recovery package. The package, up for the United States House of Representatives review, can aid recovery efforts for California farms and ranches devastated by historic storms earlier this year.

“For nearly three weeks, California was hit with storms that brought intense rain and catastrophic flooding. The historic storms caused tremendous damage to thousands of acres of farms and ranches,” the lawmakers said in a letter to top House leaders and appropriators. “We, therefore, request a disaster recovery package be swiftly put together to allow the rebuilding and recovery process to begin. It is imperative Congress provide much-needed aid to California’s agricultural community to allow for a full and timely recovery.”

Central California Representatives Jim Costa (CA-21) and Zoe Lofgren (CA-18) also joined the call for an emergency supplemental appropriations package.

As noted in the release, California had nine atmospheric rivers—each holding as much water as a hurricane—producing powerful storms that dropped around 32 trillion gallons of water on the state from December 27, 2022, to January 16, 2023.

Carbajal and Panetta represent areas of California that saw more than $500 million in estimated flood and storm damage to agricultural operations in their region, which is the number-one industry in both Congressional districts and in California as a whole. California has more agricultural production than any other state in the union, with nearly 70,000 farms operating on 24.3 million acres.

The request for a disaster recovery package was sent to Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy—who also represents California farmland impacted by recent flooding—as well as Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, House Appropriations Committee Chair Kay Granger, and Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro.

The full letter can be found here.

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