Trump denies Maryland’s request for FEMA aid after devastating floods

The White House on Wednesday denied Democratic Gov. Wes Moore’s request for $15.8 million in disaster relief funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to pay for repairs after heavy floods swept through Western Maryland in May.

From May 12 to 14, extreme rainfall caused water to rise to a historic 12.4 feet in Georges Creek, which spilled over and forced evacuations in Allegany and Garrett counties. Schoolchildren were ferried to safety by boat. The floods damaged more than 200 homes, numerous businesses, roads, bridges, railroads, sewer systems, drinking water and public utilities in several Western Maryland towns, including Westernport.

“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,” Moore said in a statement responding to the denial.

Maryland’s need met federal thresholds — $321,460 for Allegany County and $11,674,953 for the state — that typically trigger public assistance from FEMA, Moore said. Still, the state’s request for aid was denied.

A letter from a senior FEMA official said the agency “determined that supplemental federal assistance under the Stafford Act is not warranted.” The letter did not further explain the decision or the process that officials used to deny the funding.

The agency did not immediately return an inquiry about how often it rejects applications for public assistance.

Another kind of aid provided by FEMA, known as individual assistance, helps households pay for housing and repairs after natural disasters. According to a Government Accountability Office report published in May, about 38% of individual assistance applications nationally were rejected between fiscal years 2020 and 2023. The rejection rate was even higher in previous years, the report found, with as many as 45% of requests denied.

People who apply for individual assistance in states such as Maryland and Virginia, where wealthy communities skew statewide property-value figures higher than property values in rural pockets of the state, may be disadvantaged in applying for individual assistance because of the formula that FEMA uses to administer that aid. That formula probably contributed to Virginia getting public assistance to repair flood damage in April, even though FEMA did not grant individual assistance at the same time.

The rejection of Moore’s request for federal aid came a day after President Donald Trump announced that he was granting requests for disaster relief from several other states, including West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan.

Trump has in the past threatened to deny disaster relief to his political adversaries, including in Democratic-run states like California, which requested aid for devastating wildfires last year. Recent relief went to states run by governors of both parties, although all were states that voted for Trump in 2024.

Last month, Maryland’s congressional delegation — including the state’s lone Republican, Rep. Andy Harris, who chairs the far-right House Freedom Caucus — wrote a letter to the president asking him to authorize FEMA funds to help repair the flood damage.

After Trump denied the request, Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks and Rep. April McClain Delaney made a joint statement urging Trump to reconsider providing aid to the two counties, which lean heavily Republican, though they are represented in the U.S. House by Delaney, a Democrat.

“Marylanders in Allegany and Garrett Counties were hard-hit by May’s historically intense storms,” the three federal lawmakers said in a statement. “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.”

In a statement shared with The Washington Post, the White House emphasized the responsibility of local and state governments to help pay for damages following natural disasters.

“The President responds to each request for Federal assistance under the Stafford Act with great care and consideration, 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,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in an email. “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.”

Maryland has faced several recent setbacks in its relationship with the federal government. Last month, the state lost 3,500 federal jobs, making the largest single-month drop in that job sector in nearly three decades. Trump this month also reneged on a plan to move the FBI headquarters to Greenbelt, Maryland, instead vowing to keep the agency in D.C. and move it to the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

Maryland can formally appeal the decision with FEMA within 30 days, and Moore said he would do so.

In the meantime, the state has provided some money to communities in Allegany and Garrett counties to begin rebuilding. The state has provided $459,375 from the State Disaster Recovery Fund, which lawmakers created in 2023 but which has since shrunk because of budget shortfalls. The state allocated $2 million to the fund in fiscal 2025 but reduced that allocation by $500,000 this year. The governor also provided an additional $1 million through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

“We will continue to stand with our fellow Marylanders in Western Maryland as they rebuild from the damage caused in May,” Moore said.