Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell on Tuesday invited President Obama to visit the town at the epicenter of August’s earthquake to view the damage for himself.
The request comes after the Federal Emergency Management Agency last week denied Mr. McDonnell’s request for Individual Assistance for residents whose property was damaged by the 5.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked the commonwealth on Aug. 23.
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Mr. McDonnell, a Republican, says that the uninsured property damage estimates from the quake and the more than 40 aftershocks that followed it exceed $15 million and that 1,000 homes were destroyed.
In a letter dated Tuesday, Mr. McDonnell asks Mr. Obama to add a Louisa County stop to a prescheduled series of events the president has planned next week in Virginia. The governor suggests Mr. Obama tour the affected area with him and says in the letter that an “in-person visit is crucial to really understanding the challenges this community faces.”
“You undoubtedly felt the tremors in Washington, D.C., almost 100 miles away, and have witnessed the damage to Washington’s landmarks including the National Cathedral and the Washington Monument, but you cannot truly understand the magnitude of the impacts at the epicenter of this historic event until you have seen them first-hand,” Mr. McDonnell said.
