Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe wins federal relief for June storm cleanup

President Donald Trump approved major calamity declarations for Alaska Nebraska North Dakota and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe late Wednesday while denying requests from Vermont Illinois and Maryland and leaving other states still waiting for answers The decisions fell mostly along party lines with Trump touting on social media Wednesday that he had won BIG in Alaska in the last three presidential elections and that it was his honor to deliver for the incredible Patriots of Missouri a state he also won three times The catastrophe declarations authorize the Federal Crisis Management Agency to help recipients with federal financial assistance to repair community infrastructure damaged by disasters and in specific cases provide survivors money for repairs and temporary housing While Trump has approved more catastrophe declarations than he s denied this year he has also repeatedly floated the idea of phasing out FEMA saying he wants states to take more responsibility for catastrophe response and recovery States already take the lead in disasters but depend on federal assistance when the requirements exceed what they can manage alone Trump has also taken longer to approve calamity declaration requests than in any previous administration including his first according to an Associated Press analysis Approvals fell mostly along party lines The states approved for accident declarations include Alaska which filed an expedited request after experiencing back-to-back storms this month that wrecked coastal villages displaced residents and killed at least one person Trump approved a cost share of disaster-related expenses for days North Dakota and Nebraska will also receive population assistance for August severe weather and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in northern Minnesota was approved for both society and individual assistance for a June storm that felled thousands of trees across its tribal lands Trump denied four requests including Maryland s appeal for reconsideration after the state was denied a accident declaration for May flooding that severely impacted the state s two westernmost counties Gov Wes Moore a Democrat denounced the decision in a report Thursday calling the final denial deeply frustrating President Trump and his Administration have politicized calamity relief and our communities are the ones who will pay the price explained Moore The state has been supporting impacted individuals itself deploying over for the first time from its State Mishap Recovery Fund Maryland met the conditions necessary to qualify for residents assistance according to a preliminary damage assessment but Trump who has the final decision on the declarations denied the state s July request Maryland appealed in August with further input showing the counties experienced million in damage according to the state more than three times its threshold for federal assistance Trump also denied Vermont a major tragedy declaration for July floods after the state waited over nine weeks for a decision The damages far exceed what specific of the small towns impacted can afford on their own noted Eric Forand Vermont s urgency management director It s well over the annual budget or two years budget of particular towns to fix those roads Forand explained The other denials included an application from Illinois for individual assistance for three counties impacted in July by severe storms and flooding and one from Alaska to rebuild a population safety building that burned in a July electrical fire Demanded why the states were denied White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson declared President Trump provides a more thorough review of tragedy declaration requests than any Administration has before him She commented Trump was 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 Leech Lake s wait Several states and one tribe still await decisions on their requests Not knowing whether constituents assistance is coming can delay crucial projects especially for small jurisdictions with tight budgets and sometimes leaves survivors without any help to secure temporary housing or repair homes now too dangerous to live in Before its approval Wednesday the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe was straining to cover the costs of clearing thousands of trees felled across its reservation by a June thunderstorm As a tribe it is entitled to apply for assistance independently of the state where it is located Urgency management leaders mentioned that hard-hit Beltrami County itself fell short of damages needed to be eligible to request federal assistance The tribe had spent about million of its own funds so far stated Duane Oothoudt urgency operations manager for the Leech Lake Police Department The tribe was doing a lot of juggling using reserve funding to operate and continue paying our contractors Oothoudt mentioned just hours before being notified of the mishap declaration nine weeks after submitting the request With federal funding approved for both populace and individual assistance Oothoudt disclosed Thursday his one-man urgency management department would focus on helping survivors first There s a lot of work to do he revealed People were hurt by the storm