Only a fraction of Washington’s state flood aid has made it to victims

(Washington State Standard) — During the height of December’s severe flooding, Washington made $3.5 million available to those in need.

Five months later, most of that funding has gone unused.

Gov. Bob Ferguson says narrow eligibility requirements for people to access the funding are partly to blame, and that he hopes to see those guidelines changed for future natural disasters.

Tens of thousands were forced to evacuate from areas around the state, and thousands of homes were damaged during the heavy rainstorms and flooding. Of the total state aid, $1 million was quickly handed out to more than 2,600 households, according to state officials.

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Another $2.5 million available for cash assistance remains mostly unspent.

As of last week, just $175,000 of that sum had been distributed, officials said. That money can go toward immediate needs, hotel costs due to displacement from the flooding, rental assistance and replacing recreational vehicles, campers and manufactured homes.

This money is separate from the federal assistance the state has unlocked to help with recovery.

State aid to cover urgent needs for flood victims is limited to $350 for a single person, going up based on household size for a maximum of $1,125 for a family of five, according to the state.

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The primary issue limiting the flow of the state funding has been restrictive criteria for accessing it.

For one, residents’ homes must be destroyed or have sustained major damage. They also must have a household income 80% or less of the area median, and live only in King, Lewis, Pierce, Snohomish, Skagit or Whatcom counties.

In the historic flooding late last year, nearly 3,900 homes were damaged. Of those, only 440 were destroyed or suffered major damage. Of those 440, dozens were in areas not eligible for the funding, like Chelan and Grays Harbor counties. Even people who fit other requirements were boxed out if they exceeded the low-income threshold.

Plus, the state can’t cover damage that is insured.

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Speaking at a disaster assistance center in Renton on Wednesday, Ferguson said he’d like to see these qualifications expanded to avoid such a situation in a future disaster.

“I was surprised how limited that was, and even those limited dollars,” Ferguson said, “how narrow it is to get those dollars out the door.”

Ferguson noted he’s spoken to legislative leaders about his concerns.

“We’re looking at ways to look into the next disaster, which unfortunately someday that’s going to come, to see if we can improve that in some way,” the Democratic governor said.

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“We want to make sure there’s not fraud,” Ferguson continued. “We want to make sure dollars are getting to the right people, of course. That’s extremely important, but I think there also has to be a balance.”

Washington Military Department spokesperson Karina Shagren noted this issue is something officials are looking at as they conduct a post-mortem of how the state’s storm response went.

Meanwhile, some of the state aid has been closed off to avoid duplication with what the federal government may provide. Ferguson had requested the Federal Emergency Management Agency open up over $21 million in federal assistance for flood victims, which was approved last month.

Because of this, the state money for extended shelter, rental assistance and RV replacement is on hold.

The application period for the funding has closed, but the state is still processing already-submitted applications that required additional information. The funding expires June 30.

Federal assistance

Requests for the federal individual assistance are open through June 10.

So far, the feds have doled out nearly $7 million to over 700 households across 10 counties and numerous tribal nations in Washington. Federal, state and local officials are imploring flood victims to apply for the FEMA aid before the deadline.

“Our goal is to make sure that everybody who’s impacted by the flood realizes this is going on,” Ferguson said, noting application numbers are trending up recently.

President Donald Trump also OK’ed potentially tens of millions of dollars to nonprofits as well as state, local and tribal governments to deal with the damage to roads, levees and other infrastructure. The initial damage estimate, which Ferguson first shared in February, remains roughly $182 million.

Ferguson noted the state likely won’t know for years how much FEMA reimburses in total based on the time it will take to complete all repairs from flood damage.

The state is also hoping the Trump administration will change its mind after denying funding to Washington for projects meant to prepare for future flooding. Ferguson had asked for $36 million for this purpose, but FEMA rejected the request late last month, without giving a clear reason. Last week, Ferguson appealed the decision.

“These are systemic vulnerabilities that predictably produce recurring damage under foreseeable conditions,” Ferguson wrote in his appeal. “Absent mitigation, these same systems will continue to fail in future events.”