Federal grants for flood work sat on hold as storms inundated Washington state

Washington state officials are highlighting the need for flood mitigation work after the recent storms. The Trump administration has held up some of those projects.

As Washington state residents take stock of widespread damage, officials say the recent succession of storms highlights why proactive work to protect communities from flooding is so essential. But the Trump administration has delayed or attempted to cut federal funding for some of those projects, leaving a slate of the state’s major initiatives in limbo.

Washington had secured tens of millions of dollars in federal grants for projects to elevate houses, move people away from flood-prone areas and protect homes with new levees, among other measures.

But earlier this year, the Trump administration attempted to cancel roughly $182 million in funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for natural hazard mitigation projects in the state, prompting a court battle. And according to Tim Cook, Washington’s state hazard mitigation officer, another $31 million in disaster prevention grants have for months been awaiting approval from Kristi Noem, the U.S. secretary of homeland security, per a department policy she implemented this summer.

The recent atmospheric river storms have forced at least 1,300 rescues and assisted evacuations, killed one person and flooded thousands of homes.

Such storms transport moisture from Pacific waters in the tropics and can look like fire hoses on weather radar systems. Even more severe floods from such events are anticipated in Washington as global warming causes more precipitation to fall as rain instead of snow and makes rainfall more intense.