The Trump administration has denied Alaska’s request for a larger federal cost-share for disaster recovery efforts following devastation wrought by the remnants of Typhoon Halong in Western Alaska last fall.
In a May 31 denial letter, a senior official with the Federal Emergency Management Agency denied the state’s appeal for a 90% federal cost reimbursement for the first three months following the disaster, saying the request for additional funding was “not warranted.”
The denial leaves the federal government covering 75%, and the state covering the remaining 25% of disaster recovery costs, putting Alaska on the hook for tens of millions of dollars.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy claimed the federal government would fully reimburse the state for the first 90 days of immediate disaster relief and recovery efforts when President Trump signed a federal disaster declaration in October.
But FEMA denied the request for full reimbursement in December. The state appealed and requested a 90% federal cost reimbursement, and that request was again denied on May 31.
Jeremy Zidek, public information officer with the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, which oversees the state’s disaster response, said by email on June 2 that the 75% federal cost share is standard.
There is not yet a full cost estimate for the Western Alaska storm disaster, including ex-Typhoon Halong. In February, the division’s director, Bryan Fisher, told lawmakers the latest FEMA assessment at that time was $125 million.
Further rebuilding and repair efforts in Western Alaska are underway this summer. An estimated 1,200 people are still displaced from the region, according to KYUK public radio in Bethel.
Since the storms, FEMA reports approving $47 million in individual and household assistance, including nearly $9.5 million in housing aid, and over $5 million in public assistance grants.
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