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E&E News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
Trump, who called FEMA ‘slow,' is making people wait months for help
Public officials have started pleading with the Trump administration for help in recovering from deadly disasters as President Donald Trump triggers frustration in states struck by tornadoes, floods and storms by taking no action on requests for aid. Trump has left states, counties and tribes in limbo as he delays making decisions on formal requests for millions of dollars in Federal Emergency Management Agency funding. Some areas that are still reeling from extreme weather are unable to start cleanup. 'We're at a standstill and waiting on a declaration from FEMA,' said Royce McKee, emergency management director in Walthall County, Mississippi, which was hit by tornadoes in mid-March. Advertisement The county of 13,000 people can't afford to clean up acres of debris, McKee said, and is waiting for Trump to act on a disaster request that was submitted by Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, on April 1 after the tornadoes killed seven people, destroyed or damaged 671 homes, and caused $18.2 million in public damage. 'I'm disappointed, especially for the people that lost their houses,' McKee said. Trump himself assailed FEMA in January for being 'very slow.' The frustration over Trump's handling of disasters is the latest upheaval involving FEMA. Trump recently canceled two FEMA grant programs that gave states billions of dollars a year to pay for protective measures against disasters. The move drew protests from Republican and Democratic lawmakers. On May 8, Trump fired FEMA leader Cameron Hamilton and replaced him with David Richardson, a former Marine Corps officer who has no experience in emergency management. At a congressional hearing on Tuesday, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican, pleaded with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to push Trump to approve three disaster requests that Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, had sent to Trump beginning April 2. 'We are desperate for assistance in Missouri,' Hawley said as Noem pledged to help. Her department oversees FEMA. St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer, whose city was badly damaged by tornadoes earlier this week, told MSNBC: 'What we need right now is federal assistance. This is where FEMA and the federal government have got to come in and help communities. Our city can't shoulder this alone.' Trump has not acted on 17 disaster requests, a high number for this time of year, according to a FEMA daily report released Wednesday. On the same date eight years ago, during Trump's first presidency, only three disaster requests were awaiting presidential action, the FEMA report from May 21, 2017, shows. Eleven of the 17 pending disaster requests were sent to Trump more than a month ago. 'This looks to me like, until FEMA's role is clarified, then we're just going to sit on it,' said a former senior FEMA official who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. Trump has indicated that he wants to shrink the agency, which distributes about $45 billion in disaster aid a year, helps with as many as 100 disasters at a time and, he said, 'has been a very big disappointment.' 'It's very bureaucratic and very slow,' Trump said in January during a visit to disaster-stricken western North Carolina. President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with homeowners affected by Hurricane Helene in Swannanoa, North Carolina, in January. | Mark Schiefelbein/AP The Trump administration has made no announcements about how it is handling requests for disaster aid, leaving governors, local officials and individuals uncertain about what to expect. 'A disaster survivor that's waiting for relief — that's the hard part about this,' the former FEMA official said. In a statement to POLITICO's E&E News, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the administration wants state and local governments 'to invest in their own resilience before disaster strikes, making response less urgent and recovery less prolonged.' Trump handles disaster requests 'with great care and consideration, ensuring American tax dollars are used appropriately and efficiently by the states to supplement — not substitute, their obligation to respond to and recover from disasters,' Jackson said. 'Death and destruction' Despite the absence of an announced policy change, Trump's actions on a handful of disasters indicate that he is making it harder for states to receive FEMA aid for cleanup and rebuilding. There is no indication of partisan considerations in Trump's actions. Only three of the 17 pending disaster requests came from Democratic governors. Trump made national headlines in April when he denied a request by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican who was the White House press secretary during his first presidency. The denial of Sanders' request for aid to clean up debris and repair electric cooperatives after a tornado outbreak in mid-March exemplifies Trump's new direction. Sanders calculated that the tornadoes caused $11.6 million in public damage, which is more than enough to qualify for FEMA aid. Under long-standing FEMA policy, the agency sets a population-based damage threshold that states must exceed in order to get money for cleanup and rebuilding. In Arkansas, the threshold is slightly more than $5.8 million — and the state's damage was twice that amount. Sanders appealed the denial, but Trump again rejected her request for repair money, although he did agree to help 249 households pay for temporary housing and minor home repairs with FEMA aid. The federal funding will amount to about $1 million. Trump took the same action on aid requests from West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrissey, a Republican, and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, after flooding struck their states in February and April, respectively. In both cases, Trump approved money for households and rejected their funding requests for public rebuilding. When Trump rejected Washington state's April request for aid to help rebuild public infrastructure following a November flood, Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, noted that the damage easily exceeded the threshold to qualify for federal money. 'There are very clear criteria to qualify for these emergency relief funds. Washington's application met all of them,' Ferguson said after Trump's denial. Communities 'have been waiting for months' for federal aid, 'and this decision will cause further delay.' On Tuesday, Beshear sent Trump a new disaster request after tornadoes killed 19 Kentucky residents and caused extensive property damage. Beshear is seeking an 'expedited major disaster' declaration, which presidents typically approve in a day or two. 'This tornado event is devastating. There's no other way to describe the death and destruction this has brought to the community,' Beshear said at a news briefing Tuesday. Although the request did not calculate the cost of the damage, Kentucky Division of Emergency Management Director Eric Gibson said Tuesday, 'We met a number that is clearly easy for anyone to see that this disaster needs some federal assistance.' Beshear said Trump called him Sunday after the outbreak and 'pledged to be there for the people of Kentucky.'
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Walthall County storm victims still recovering after tornadoes
WALTHALL COUNTY, Miss. (WHLT) – A lot has been done to help clean up the mess in Tylertown after two tornadoes hit the area earlier this month. With widespread damage, it will take a long time to fully recover. Walthall County officials said progress is being made, but they're waiting on federal assistance. 'The county has a cleanup company hired to start with debris management. We have several volunteer groups that are in here doing cleanup that they can do right now, pushing stuff up to the side of the road, waiting for the declaration,' said Royce McKee, the Walthall County Emergency Management director. With the county in the recovery phase, the main focus is providing shelter and essential items to those in need. Mississippians encouraged to prepare for more severe weather 'We're getting to the point where we're trying to find places for people to go. You know, there's still so many people that are hurt, and they don't know where to go. And, you know, every time this happens, it's never fast enough that you can do it. You know, insurance companies are,' said McKee. Several volunteer groups and local schools have pitched in to help with cleanup efforts. A 'Helping a Home' program is being launched to coordinate the efforts of organizations and volunteers wanting to assist impacted families. 'We're kind of connecting them with someone to help them going, someone to help them with donations and things like that, or just little things that people don't think about because we got, like I said, lots of stuff donated and things like that. But there was things that people didn't think about, you know, like food and like warm meals and all that,' said Tesa Payne, coordinator with Adopt-A-Family and Helping a Home project. With the chance of severe weather this weekend, McKee asked residents to take precautions and seek proper shelter. 'Unfortunately for us, the tornadoes seem to track in the same area all the time. If you remember five years ago, we had three in the same weekend take almost the exact same track through there. So hopefully, we don't have that again and hopefully everyone will take heed and go and listen to the weather and the radio,' he said. Most power has been restored, but downed transmission lines are making it difficult for some areas. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
