This article was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.
This video is no longer available.
State leaders said they plan to appeal the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s denial of disaster assistance for Western Maryland communities slammed by flooding in May.
Little explanation was given for the denial of the request, which state officials said more than met thresholds for federal assistance. The bad news, delivered in what one official called “just a basic letter that said you were denied,” contrasted sharply with President Donald Trump’s effusive announcement on social media Tuesday that FEMA had approved $11.7 million in disaster assistance for areas of West Virginia hit by flooding and tornadoes in June.
“It’s definitely a gut punch and it hurts,” said Sen. Mike McKay (R-Western Maryland). He said he believes FEMA will provide more information on the denial later.
The request was in response to damage caused to parts of Allegany and Garrett counties after “extreme rainfall” between May 12 and 14 inundated several towns.
George’s Creek surged to more than 12 feet above major flood stage. Wills Creek in Cumberland rose 8 feet. The Potomac River also flooded. Areas of both counties were evacuated. Midland, Lonaconing and Westernport were among the hardest-hit areas.
Gov. Wes Moore (D), who visited the area soon after the storms, declared a state of emergency. The state also quickly filed for federal disaster assistance.
In a statement Wednesday, Moore said the flooding caused millions in damages to “more than 200 homes, numerous businesses, roads and bridges, railroads, sewer systems, drinking water, and public utilities.”
Official damage estimates in the initial request approached $80 million, and McKay said additional damage to the George’s Creek Railroad and from exposed water and gas lines brought the total up to $90 million. Many of those damages were offset by insurance claims and further reduced through a “joint assessment” process in which FEMA agrees with some claims but denies others, until the damage estimate was reduced to $15.8 million.
But Moore said Allegany County’s threshold for FEMA assistance is $321,460 and Maryland’s is nearly $11.7 million. The damage from the May floods “clearly met disaster assistance criteria established by” FEMA, Moore’s statement said.
“These communities demonstrated a clear need through FEMA’s own process, and Maryland will appeal the decision to seek all available resources to support the recovery efforts,” he said.
In addition to seeking federal assistance, Maryland provided direct aid to residents and businesses. Allegany County got nearly $460,000 from a state disaster recovery fund through the Maryland Department of Emergency Management, and the state also provided $1 million to Allegany and Garrett counties through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
While he was puzzled by the federal rejection, McKay praised the state’s response, saying “the governor has just hit a home run for the attention to this natural disaster that we had, including letting us know as soon as they got the [FEMA denial] letter.”
McKay said he has “got to see what the details are” of the denial. “Then we’ll see what the process is for us to appeal the decision,” he said.
Maryland Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks and 6th District Rep. April McClain Delaney, all Democrats, called for a reconsideration of the initial denial of aid.
“Two months after flash flooding tore through these communities, they are still in need of support to repair public schools and libraries that were inundated, roads and bridges that were washed out, and homes and businesses that were left severely damaged,” their joint statement said.
“Even though the cost of the damage in these two rural Maryland counties exceeds the threshold for federal assistance, the Administration is refusing to come to their aid,” they said. “We strongly urge the President to reconsider this decision and deliver federal resources to Allegany and Garrett Counties so they are not forced to shoulder the burden of recovery on their own.”
Western Maryland is not only one of the state’s more economically challenged regions, it is an area that is dominated by Republicans who voted for Trump, who has called FEMA “a disaster” and said states should handle disaster recovery with the federal government reimbursing some of the costs.
McKay dismissed, for now, questions about the denial coming as Trump imposes his vision of government that includes deep cut to budget, staffing and agencies.
“I just don’t think the time to play politics is now,” he said. “I really just don’t think that we are being penalized because we as a state didn’t support the president, and that the three western counties did support the president. But it’s a valid question.”
Even though the denial is “a gut punch,” McKay said “at this point, to not know what the report is about, what has and hasn’t been assessed — I just don’t think it’s fair at that point to already get upset with the administration.”
McKay said the denial and need to appeal means his community will have to work harder on their own as state officials work through the process. But he worries that, with Allegeny County being one of the poorest in the state, “there’s no blood from this turnip.”
“We’re already behind the eight ball. We’re already behind it. This just makes it that much harder,” he said. “We were hoping that the federal government would come through. It’s very, very disappointing that it hasn’t, but there again, we haven’t gotten the backup documentation yet.”
Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org.
