TOPEKA – Lt. Gov. Troy Findley, on behalf of Gov. Mark Parkinson, has declared several counties in eastern Kansas, including Franklin, Anderson, Coffey, Douglas, Miami, Johnson, Linn and Osage; as a state disaster area because of the Christmas blizzard. He issued the declaration this afternoon. The cleanup from the winter storms is still going, said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, Kansas adjutant general. The declaration is the first step in getting federal reimbursement for the cost of the state and local governments’ cleanup and rescue efforts because of the storm, Findley said.
