By Marshall Griffin, KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – Missouri Governor Matt Blunt says the National Guard's deployment to deal with the winter storm costs the state $100,000 a day. So far the governor has made no request for aid from other states, but President Bush has declared 34 Missouri counties and the city of St. Louis as federal disaster areas.
Blunt says the federal disaster declaration will provide financial reimbursement to both the state and local governments.
And, he says, it will provide assets the state currently doesn't have: "Generators, for example, that we have not been able to find in the private sector, or that exceed our National Guard capabilities.
"They have assets that we can use to deal with the storm."
The weekend's ice storm in Missouri has left at least eight dead.