A governor can request presidential declaration prior to executing the State's emergency plan, if he deems it will be overwhelmed

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Cannot be determined
• D. Not specified

Answer: (B)

The idea being tested is how and when federal disaster assistance is invoked. Federal declarations under the Stafford Act are intended to supplement a state’s capabilities, not replace them before any local or state response is tried. A governor activates the state emergency plan and uses available state and local resources first. Only when those resources are overwhelmed, or clearly about to be, does the governor request federal assistance to supplement the response.

So, requesting a presidential declaration before actually implementing or completing the state’s emergency plan isn’t the usual or appropriate sequence. The declaration is sought when it becomes evident that state resources will be insufficient to handle the emergency, which occurs during the response phase after the plan has begun to be put into action.