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The Trump administration approved major disaster declaration requests for at least seven states this week, according to information released Saturday by the\u00a0Federal Emergency Management Agency, allowing affected communities to access federal support. About 15 requests for assistance from others states and tribes for extreme weather events this year and last seem to be pending, along with three appeals of previous denials.<\/p>\n
Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota and Washington were granted major disaster declarations, which can unlock federal support and funding for recovery needs such as public infrastructure repairs and aid for survivors.<\/p>\n
The announcement, in a FEMA daily briefing document, comes weeks into Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin\u2019s tenure overseeing the disaster relief agency and is the latest signal that the former Republican senator from Oklahoma could ease some of the\u00a0turmoil from the leadership\u00a0of his predecessor, Kristi Noem, who was\u00a0fired by President Donald Trump\u00a0in March.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, FEMA\u2019s work could be undermined by the\u00a0ongoing DHS shutdown, now eight weeks long. While disaster response and recovery can continue through a shutdown because FEMA\u2019s Disaster Relief Fund does not lapse, that money is running low as the funding impasse drags on. The DHS appropriations bill would replenish the fund with more than $26 billion.<\/p>\n
Mullin said Tuesday that he planned to brief Trump that day on the pending declaration requests, affirming his intention to speed up work on past disasters in the run-up to Atlantic hurricane season, which begins June 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to push this stuff forward as fast as possible,\u201d Mullin said after\u00a0surveying Hurricane Helene recovery work in North Carolina\u00a0on his first official visit as DHS secretary, acknowledging that \u201cdisasters are happening constantly.\u201d<\/p>\n
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said Saturday that Trump responds to such requests \u201cwith great care and consideration, ensuring American tax dollars are used appropriately and efficiently by the states to supplement \u2014 not substitute \u2014 their obligation to respond to and recover from disasters.\u201d She said an administration goal is having state and local governments \u201cinvest in their own resilience before disaster strikes, making response less urgent and recovery less prolonged.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Mullin\u00a0assured fellow senators during his confirmation hearing\u00a0that he believed in FEMA\u2019s mission, the agency\u2019s future is uncertain. Trump has expressed a desire to push more responsibility for disasters down to states. The FEMA Review Council he appointed last year has not released a recommendation report\u00a0expected to include sweeping changes\u00a0to how the federal government supports disaster resilience, response and recovery.<\/p>\n
It was not immediately clear whether other states or tribes had also been told of approvals or denials that were not yet announced publicly. Hawaii Governor Josh Green, a Democrat, said Wednesday\u00a0said his state had received a disaster declaration\u00a0for\u00a0devastating March flooding.<\/p>\n
Trump also amended past disaster declarations for Tennessee and Mississippi, adding more counties for individual assistance after a severe winter storm in January.<\/p>\n
Some communities have experienced unprecedented long waits for answers on their disaster requests during Trump\u2019s second term. An analysis by The Associated Press in September found\u00a0approvals were taking more than a month on average.<\/p>\n
It took less than two weeks on average for a governor\u2019s disaster declaration request to be granted by presidents in the 1990s and early 2000s. That rose to about three weeks during the past decade under presidents from both major parties.<\/p>\n
Arizona has been waiting nearly three months for an answer to its appeal after being denied support for severe storms and flooding that occurred in September.<\/p>\n
Some Democrat-led states have complained about\u00a0being denied disaster declarations\u00a0despite proving need. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore called Trump\u2019s decision \u201cdeeply frustrating\u201d after the president twice denied the state\u2019s request for support for May 2025 flooding despite a FEMA assessment showing over $33 million in damages.<\/p>\n
While FEMA assesses damage and uses a specific formula to analyze the possible impact on states and local jurisdictions, disaster declarations are ultimately at the president\u2019s discretion.<\/p>\n
None of the approvals made this week includes hazard mitigation funding, a once-typical add on to disaster declaration support that helped communities build back with more resilience. Trump has not approved a hazard mitigation request for more than a year.<\/p>\n
#communities #enduring #unprecedented #long #waits #federal #disaster #requests<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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