St. Louis, MO  (KTRS)  Relief efforts continue in the aftermath of the historic flooding.

Governor Jay Nixon joined members of his emergency management team at Jefferson Barracks to give an update on what is being called “Operation Recovery.” This involves the debris removal program in the St. Louis region being managed at the state level by the Missouri National Guard.

Nixon says according to estimates, as much as a half-million tons of debris needs to be removed. “The Guard is working with local communities and the Corp of Engineers to develop a schedule for pick up. Contractors will begin pick up next week and make multiple passes in affected communities in the coming weeks. With this much debris spread accross so many communities, this is truly a monumental undertaking, involving multiple counties, multiple agencies, and multiple levels of government,” Nixon said.

Nixon added, “State, federal, and local teams are also starting the process of assessing damage for the purpose of seeking a federal disaster declaration. We’re going to start with the individial assistance program, which if granted would allow Missourians in eligible counties with uninsured flood damages to recieve individual federal assistance.”

Nixon also signed an executive order allowing DNR to waive regulations to accelerate flood recovery efforts.

On Saturday, the federal government approved the Governor’s request for a federal emergency declaration, which made federal resources available, specifically the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency, available to speed debris removal and relieve the strain of response and recovery costs in the St. Louis region.