Donald Trump denied federal funds on aid in the event of a disaster with residents of Arkansas, who saw dozens of people die from a series of fatal tornadoes last month, so that the legislators argue to reconsider.
According to CNN, more than 40 people were found dead after a series of tornadoes and serious storms hit Arkansas and the neighboring States of Mississippi and Missouri in March.
Given the scale of the disaster, the state governor of the State, Sarah Huckabee, asked for federal assistance in the event of a disaster as part of an emergency declaration. This request was then rejected by the Trump administration.
Huckabee and other Arkansas legislators have since publicly asked Trump to reconsider his decision. Huckabee sent the decision to appeal on April 18. The American senators Tom Cotton and John Boozman of Arkansas and the American representative Rick Crawford also followed a letter to Trump, asking him to “reconsider the denial”.
“As Governor Sanders noted in his request, these storms have caused catastrophic damage through the State, resulting in disastrous quantities of debris, generalized destruction to houses and businesses, the death of three Arkansans and injuries for many others,” the legislators wrote in a letter of April 21.
The letter continued: “Given the cumulative impact and the pure extent of the destruction of these serious weather events, federal aid is vital to ensure that state and local communities have the necessary capacities to reconstruct.”
The latest denial of funding in the event of a disaster comes when Trump has repeatedly said that he wanted to revise and eliminate FEMA. In March, Trump signed an executive decree so that the governments of the States and Local play a more active role in the aid in the event of a disaster.
“Preparation is the most effective property and management of the State, the premises and even of the individual levels, supported by a competent, accessible and efficient federal government,” read the order.
“When states are allowed to make smart infrastructure choices, taxpayers benefit from it.”
Trump also ordered a FEMA exam in January, said later: “I say that you don’t need FEMA, you need good state government”, while visiting the consequences of Los Angeles fires. He added: “Fema is a very expensive situation, in my opinion, most of the time.”
Critics of Trump’s position argued that it is weakening preparation for the United States disasters, especially since the urgency of the global climate makes natural and intense disasters.
Disaster management is also already in the hands of state municipalities and local, noted criticism. Any additional elimination of FEMA would means reducing federal funding on which states are based after disasters.
The Guardian contacted the FEMA for more comments.
