President Donald Trump has approved roughly $488 million in federal disaster relief funding for six states, because apparently Mother Nature decided to go on an absolute rampage across the country and somebody has to pay for it.
The funding package, totaling approximately $487.1 million, covers Florida, Missouri, Wisconsin, Mississippi, Kansas and Idaho, all of which got hammered by storms, tornadoes, flooding and other weather events that make you question your real estate choices. As Trending Politics reported, the lion's share of the money is heading to Florida, which will receive $415.9 million. That is more than 85 percent of the entire package, because when Florida does anything, it does it bigger and louder than everyone else.
Much of Florida's allocation is expected to support recovery in the Panhandle, a region that has been getting punched in the face by severe weather so regularly it should probably start charging admission. Roads, utilities, public buildings and critical infrastructure all took hits.
The remaining five states split the leftovers like siblings fighting over the last slice of pizza. Missouri gets $27.6 million for severe storms, tornadoes and flooding. Wisconsin picks up $22.6 million for the same general cocktail of weather misery. Mississippi was approved for $11 million to recover from severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding, which is basically every bad weather term you can fit on a bingo card.
Kansas receives $5.5 million for storm recovery, and Idaho rounds things out with $4.5 million to deal with severe storms, high winds, flooding and landslides. Idaho getting landslides on top of everything else feels like the weather just piling on at that point.
The money flows through FEMA's Public Assistance program, which reimburses state agencies, local governments and certain nonprofit organizations for emergency work and permanent repairs to facilities damaged during declared disasters. In plain English, governors said "we cannot afford this" and the federal government said "fine, here."
The approvals came Tuesday after months of severe weather battered multiple regions. Several states dealt with destructive tornado outbreaks, flash flooding, damaging straight-line winds and heavy rainfall that overwhelmed local resources. Governors submitted disaster declaration requests after determining their states could not handle the damage on their own, which is the polite government way of saying things got really bad really fast.
Once a presidential declaration gets the green light, FEMA coordinates with state and local officials to distribute the approved funds and manage rebuilding efforts. The process is about as fast as you would expect from a federal agency, but at least the checks are on the way.
Six states, half a billion dollars, and a whole lot of rebuilding ahead. Welcome to storm season in America.
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