President Donald Trump has approved opening up federal funding to deal with the aftermath of historic flooding that hit Washington in December, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Saturday.
The much-anticipated decision makes money available for individuals, nonprofits and state, tribal and local governments. This could include grants for temporary housing, home repairs and low-cost loans to cover those recovering from the disaster, and cost-sharing for emergency work on public facilities damaged by the storms.
“This is excellent news,” Gov. Bob Ferguson said Saturday. “I appreciate the president approving a major disaster declaration.”
Ferguson also thanked local, state and federal officials “who worked hard to advocate for this approval. We appreciate the support, and will be following up with the federal government to get more information.”
In February, Ferguson asked the federal government for up to $173 million to deal with the damage to roads, levees and other infrastructure and prepare for future disasters. The preliminary damage estimate at the time was $182.3 million. Ferguson said then that it was “the largest dollar amount of public infrastructure damage in Washington state in more than four decades.”
The Democratic governor had also sought $21.3 million in federal aid to help flood victims.
A FEMA press release doesn’t specify how much money Trump is opening up for Washington.
The requests didn’t include damage to certain federal and state highways, including U.S. 2. The most significant destruction from the record flooding was on this major east-west crossing over the Cascades.
Ferguson has said the state would seek funding separately for that toll from the Federal Highway Administration. It’s unclear where that request stands.
The state’s new transportation budget, which Ferguson signed late last month, includes $65 million in federal funding to repair state highways from the floods and $45 million of state financing for loans to counties and cities to deal with localized damage as they await federal reimbursements.
The record-breaking flooding forced evacuation orders for over 100,000 Washingtonians and damaged nearly 4,000 homes, according to the state. Almost 400 people needed to be rescued. One person died. Thirty-three rivers reached flood stage, and three broke records, though not quite to the catastrophic level some feared.
Leaders in Washington state feared Trump could deny federal aid for the flooding, as he did last year in the aftermath of the bomb cyclone wind storm.
The individual aid is available to people in Chelan, Grays Harbor, King, Lewis, Pacific, Pierce, Skagit, Snohomish, Thurston and Whatcom counties and numerous tribal communities. People should first file claims with their insurance providers, then apply for federal assistance online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, by calling 1-800-621-3362 or using the FEMA App.
The federal infrastructure funding is going toward Asotin, Chelan, Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Garfield, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Pend Oreille, Pierce, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Wahkiakum, Whatcom and Yakima counties, and tribal nations, according to FEMA.
Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: info@washingtonstatestandard.com.