The California Department of Food and Agriculture, the California Department of Social Services, and California Volunteers will work with local governments and non-profit organizations to provide fair grounds as temporary housing. Farmers across the state were scrambling to protect citrus fruit still on the trees, using huge fans to circulate air and keep temperatures a little warmer in the fields. The cold is threatening the state's nearly $1 billion citrus crop, including oranges, tangerines and lemons still unpicked on thousands of trees statewide.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a statewide emergency
proclamation Friday, mobilizing state and regional resources to ensure the
safety of residents and property during the cold snap. The proclamation
orders the California Office of Emergency Services to direct all necessary
state personnel, equipment and facilities to help "alleviate this
emergency." The Governor stated
that "I have directed
state agencies to activate the extreme temperature protocols established last
year to assist the most vulnerable populations in the state and asked local
governments and the people of California to take common sense precautions in
the unseasonably cold weather," Schwarzenegger stated. The
proclamation also provides financial support for local communities and the directs
the California National Guard to open additional armories as temporary warming
facilities.
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