WESTERNPORT — Gov. Wes Moore criticized the Trump administration’s decision Wednesday to deny Western Maryland disaster relief funding after a Sunday meeting with local officials in Westernport to discuss flood recovery efforts.
The state requested recovery funds after catastrophic flash floods tore through the region May 13, and Moore announced last week the Trump administration denied the request despite exceeding requirements for federal funding. Moore has since appealed the decision.
“It is petty, it is partisan and it is punishing and is deeply unfair to the people of Allegany and Garrett County,” Moore said about the denial Sunday.
“When you look at all the states and all the localities that received funding from the Trump administration, not one state that did not vote for Donald Trump got funding.”
Moore said the lack of explanation for the denial was not surprising to him.
“I’ve stopped having expectations for what this administration is going to provide when it comes to transparency or reasoning behind some of the decisions that they’re making,” Moore said. “I’ve stopped trying to do the mental gymnastics.”
The flood caused an estimated $15.8 million worth of emergency response costs, according to FEMA and state and local assessments. Maryland’s threshold for FEMA Public Assistance is $11,674,953, according to Moore’s statement last week.
The flooding impacted more than 200 homes, numerous businesses, roads and bridges, railroads, sewer systems, drinking water and public utilities in the Georges Creek area.
“Everything about the request didn’t just hit benchmarks and expectations, it exceeded the standard,” Moore said.
“This was purely a political decision and that is the basis of our appeal.”
While the state has filed an appeal to the decision, other leaders are working on reversing the denial.
Sixth District U.S. Rep. April McClain Delaney has written a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to discuss the decision.
“I wrote her and said I would really like to dispute the findings,” McClain Delaney said. “It does not make any sense.”
Westernport Mayor Judy Hamilton has reached out to the administration as well.
“We have asked for them to reconsider,” Hamilton said.
“Without that funding, we’re not going to be able to recover fully, and it will be a much longer road.”
While the state has allocated about $1.5 million for recovery, making up the difference would be virtually impossible without federal assistance, Moore said.
“You can never make up for when the federal government or a federal administration just decides that we’re all on our own,” Moore said.
“There is no state that has the resources to make up for when the federal government just decides that they’re going to leave people behind, but we are going to do anything and everything in our power.”
Despite the obstacle, the mayor said she is determined to continue working toward recovering after the flood.
“We’re going to recover, we’re going to fight hard and we’re going to fight to get the FEMA dollars,” Hamilton said.
Moore said that Western Maryland deserves recovery funds.
“You cannot play politics with disaster relief,” Moore said. “The people of Westernport, the people of this district, they deserve better, and they need to make sure that they’re getting the support that the situation merits.”
Katelynn Winebrenner, a senior at the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism, is a summer intern for the Times-News. She can be reached at katewine@terpmail.umd.edu.