{"id":11574428,"date":"2025-07-23T14:44:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T18:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/?p=11574428"},"modified":"2025-07-24T15:41:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T19:41:11","slug":"trump-denies-fema-funding-for-western-maryland-floods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/23\/trump-denies-fema-funding-for-western-maryland-floods\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump denies FEMA funding for Western Maryland floods, wants states to ‘invest in their own resilience’"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump denied disaster assistance for Western Maryland Wednesday that Gov. Wes Moore requested following massive floods that hit the region in May.<\/p>\n

In a statement Wednesday, Moore, a Democrat, said that the flooding, which caused evacuations in Garret and Allegany counties after Georges Creek overflowed following three days of extreme rainfall, \u201cclearly met disaster assistance criteria\u201d under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).<\/p>\n

The floods occurred between May 12 and May 14. Moore requested disaster assistance June 13.<\/p>\n

In an email to The Baltimore Sun on Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said that Trump responds to each request for assistance under the Stafford Act with “great care and consideration, ensuring American tax dollars are used appropriately and efficiently by the states to supplement \u2014 not substitute, their obligation to respond to and recover from disasters.”<\/p>\n

“While the President\u2019s decisions are communicated directly to the Governor of an affected State, the Trump administration remains committed to empowering and working with State and local governments to invest in their own resilience before disaster strikes, making response less urgent and recovery less prolonged,” Jackson wrote.<\/p>\n

In an email to The Baltimore Sun Thursday, a FEMA spokesperson said that the agency follows the regulations of the Stafford Act to determine the necessity of federal assistance, and, in this case, worked closely collect and analyze the damage.<\/p>\n

“The law and regulations require FEMA to review each request closely and consider the unique circumstances of disaster-caused damages as well as state and local capacity,” they said. “This decision just like all disaster requests was based on policy not politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20, FEMA has denied eight requests for disaster declarations. That does not include Maryland’s request that Trump denied on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Upon returning to office, Trump said that FEMA should be eliminated and that states should be more responsible for their own disaster relief. In January, he issued an executive order establishing a committee to assess the recommended structural changes for the agency.<\/p>\n

The Washington Post reported earlier this month that the president is retreating from the idea of abolishing FEMA after he visited Texas, which was ravaged by floods that killed more than 130 people, including dozens of children at a religious summer camp.<\/p>\n

‘We did meet the threshold’<\/h4>\n

State Sen. Mike McKay, a Republican whose District 1 covers parts of Garrett, Allegany and Washington counties, said the news came as \u201ca gut punch\u201d for Allegany, one of the state\u2019s poorest counties.<\/p>\n

McKay learned of the denial at a Zoom meeting at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, he said, and the presentation included only an executive summary, so he wasn\u2019t familiar with all its details.<\/p>\n

As disappointing as the news was, he said he hopes the full report will include a clear explanation of why the county\u2019s application fell short and what civic leaders and citizens can do to reverse the decision.<\/p>\n