Virginia State of Emergency Declaration for Winter Weather

NU MB ER ELEVEN (2026) DECLARATION OF A STA TE OF EMERGENCY DUE TO S E V E R E W I N T E R W E A T H E R Im portance of the Issu e On January 22, 2026, I decla re a state of emergency to exist for t he Commonwealth of Virginia based on National Weather Service forecasts that indicate a seve re winter storm with signific ant snow, along with sleet, ice, fre ezing rain, and temperatures below freezing for several days that could cause transportation difficulties and power outages. The Virgi nia Emergency Operations Center (“VEOC ”) has been actively monitoring t he movem ent of severe winter weather heading toward Virginia, wit h the a n ticipated arri val of the most severe impacts on Saturday, January 24, 2026, and into Sunday, Janua ry 25, 2026. Accordingl y, the pre-posit ioning of re sponse assets and s upplies wil l be necessary to assist our loca l and state partners. The Virginia Emergency Support Team will activate for this incident. Th e he al t h a n d g en er a l w e lf a r e o f t h e c it iz e n s o f t h e C o m m o n w ea lt h r eq u i re t h a t s ta t e a ct io n b e ta k en to h e lp a ll e v i at e th e c o n d it i o n s ca u s ed b y t h is s i t u at io n. T he e ff e ct s of t h is s to r m co n s t i tu t e a d is a s t er w h e r ei n hu m an l if e a n d p ub l i c a n d p r i v at e p r o p e rt y ar e im p er il e d, a s d e s cr i b ed i n § 4 4 - 146.16 of the Co d e o f V i r g in i a. Therefore, by virtue of the authori ty vested in m e by Article V, Sect ion 7 of the Constit ution of V i r gi n i a, a n d §§ 44 - 146.17 a n d 44 - 75.1 of t h e Code o f Vi r g i ni a, as G ov e r no r a n d D ir e ct o r of E m e r g e n cy M an a ge m e n t an d Commander- in -Chief of the Com monweal th's Armed Forces, I proclaim a state of emergency. Accordingly, I direct state and local gove rnments to render appropriate assistance to prepare for this event, to alleviate any conditions resul ting from the sit uation, and to im plement recovery and mitigation operati ons and activities so as to ret urn impacte d areas t o pre-event conditions as much as poss ible. Emergency services shall be conduc ted in ac co r d an c e w i th § 44 - 146.13 et se q. of t h e Co d e o f Vi r g in i a.

2 Fol lowing a declaration of a local emergency pursuant to § 44-146.21 of the Code of Virgini a, if a local governing body determines that evacuation is deemed ne cessary for the preservati on of life or other emergenc y mitigation, response, or recovery, pursuant to § 44- 146.17(A)(1) of the Code of Virginia, I dir ect the evacuation of all or part of the populace therei n from such areas and upon such timetable as the local gove rning body, in coordination with the VEOC, acting on beha lf of the S tat e Coordi nator of Emergenc y Management, shall dete rmine. Notwithstanding the foregoing, I re serve t he right t o direct and compel evacuation from the sam e and different areas and determine a di fferent timetabl e both where local governing bodi es have made such a determination and where local governi ng bodi es have not made such a determination. Violations of any ord er to ci tizens to evac uate shall constitute a viola tion of this Executive Order and are puni shable as a Class 1 mi sdemeanor. This Executive O rder also covers preparatory actions for this event tha t began on J a n u a ry 2 2, 2 0 2 6. Dire ct ive In order to marshal all public re sources and a ppropri ate preparedness, response, and recovery mea sures, I order the following actions: 1. Imple mentation by state agencies of the Commonwealth of Virg inia Emergency Operati ons Plan, as amended, along with other a ppropriate state plans. 2. Activa tion of the Virginia Emergency Operations Center and the Virginia Emergency Support Tea m, as directed by the State Coordinator of Emergency Management, to coordina te the provision of assistanc e to state, local, and tribal governments and to facilit ate e mergency s ervices assignments to other agenci e s; a cti vati on of the Eme rge ncy Ma nagem e nt A ssista nce Com pact § 44 -1 46. 28:1 o f t he C ode of Vi rgi ni a a s neede d. 3. Authoriza tion for the heads of executive branch agencies, on behalf of their regulat ory bo ards as appropriate, and wit h the concu rrence of their Cabi net Secret ary, to waive any state requirement or regulation, and enter into contract s without re gard to normal procedures or formalities, and without rega rd to application or permit fees or royalties. All waivers issued by agencies shall be posted on their web site s. 4. Activa tion of § 59.1-525 et seq. of the Code of Virginia related to price gougi ng. 5. Authoriza tion of a maximum of $2,750,000 in state sum sufficie nt funds for state and loca l government mission a ssignments and state response and recovery operations authori zed and coordinated through the Virginia Departme nt of Emergency Managem ent, allowable by The Stafford Act, 42 U.S.C. § 5121 et seq. Included in this authorization is $1,000,000 for the Department of Mil itary A ffair s.

3 6. Activa tion of t he Virginia National Guard to State Active D uty. Effective Date of this Executive Order This Exe cutive Order s hall be effec tive January 22, 20 2 6, and shall remain in full force and effect for 30 days pursuant t o § 44-146.17(A)(1) of the Code of Virginia, unless sooner ame nded or rescinded by furth er executive order. Term ination of this Executive Order is not intended to term inate any federal-type benefi ts granted or to be granted due to injury or death as a result of service under t his Executive Order. G i v e n under my hand and und er th e Sea l of the Com monwealth of V irginia, this 22nd day of Ja nu a r y 20 2 6. Abigail D. Spanber ger, Governor Attest: Jennifer B. Moon, Secre tary of the Commonwea lth