WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday approved a major disaster declaration for storms and tornadoes that hit the St. Louis area two months ago, assuaging concern that the White House might hold back on federal aid for the devastating tornado that hit St. Louis last week.
The approval came more than two months after the storms hit a swath of Eastern and Southern Ƶ on March 14 and 15, including St. Louis, Jefferson and Franklin counties.
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe on April 2 requested a major disaster declaration for the storms, which killed 12 people across the state, including two in the St. Louis area, and cost at least $27 million in emergency response and damage to public infrastructure.
A major disaster declaration from those storms to individuals impacted by the storms, including grants and low-interest loans to pay for home repairs and business recovery.
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Trump’s approval of the March disaster request comes amid turmoil at the federal agency and growing concern from communities around the country about the level of federal support they can expect after disasters.
His administration has talked about shifting responsibility to states for disasters, and even about dismantling the agency. Trump’s initial pick to head the agency, Cameron Hamilton, earlier this month after he told Congress FEMA should not be eliminated.
The administration’s delays in approving federal disaster requests from Missouri and other states has fueled worries that federal help may not be forthcoming as St. Louis reels from the devastating tornado May 16 that killed five people and caused more than $1 billion in damage, according to city estimates.
St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer on Thursday noted that FEMA teams were in St. Louis this week to assess damage from last week’s tornado, a process state and city officials will use to formally request a disaster declaration. But the mayor acknowledged she had “concerns” about federal assistance, which she has said is essential to rebuild the city.
“Look, defunding the areas of federal government that we so badly need to make our communities function well is a huge, huge problem when it comes to this and a whole host of things that the city relies on the federal government for,” Spencer said Thursday. “Do I have concerns? Yes. Do I have confidence that we are doing everything we can? Absolutely. Do I have confidence that our governor and our local electeds, our senators and our congressmen, are doing everything possible? Yes I do, and we are marching forward because that is the only thing we can do.”
A disaster declaration and FEMA assistance to individuals for home repairs is especially important in North St. Louis, where more than a quarter of homeowners don’t have insurance to pay for damages. On some blocks, more than half of homeowners are uninsured.
Trump’s approval of the March disaster declaration was one of a flurry announced by FEMA Friday, coming of about pending at the White House and increasing pleas from lawmakers, including from Trump’s fellow Republicans, to authorize aid. Missouri’s Congressional delegation toured St. Louis following last week’s tornado and appealed to the White House to approve the state’s pending disaster requests so residents, businesses and local governments can access federal money for cleanup and repairs.
Sen. Josh Hawley directly questioned Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday about the Missouri disaster requests and said he spoke to the President on Wednesday about the need for federal aid for Missouri.
The state’s other senator, Eric Schmitt, also applauded the president’s action and said he remains in “close contact with FEMA” about federal assistance for last week’s St. Louis tornado.
“This is just the beginning of helping communities across our state get back on their feet following devastating storms this season,” Schmitt said in a statement Friday.
And at a news conference with the mayor Friday, Schmitt said he wasn’t worried about the city getting aid from the federal government, noting FEMA had already completed its initial damage assessments.
“I think the best evidence of that is what happened here,” Schmitt said. “FEMA moved, by FEMA standards, incredibly quickly. They’ve already done their individual property damage assessments. They’re already finished.”
Kehoe called Trump’s approval of the disaster requests “welcome news” and said the state’s emergency management agency would work closely with FEMA to tap “millions of dollars in much needed recovery support for individuals, families and local jurisdictions.” The governor said he was “confident” the May 16 tornado would also receive a federal disaster declaration.
“We appreciate the work of our federal congressional delegation in advocating for these requests and future assistance for Missourians,” Kehoe said Friday.
But U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell, a Democrat unlike Missouri’s governor and two senators, said there’s still a “long way to go” before FEMA gets aid into the hands of people who need it. FEMA has lost a quarter of its full-time staff amid cuts driven by Trump advisor Elon Musk’s Department of Governmental Efficiency.
“I’m not going to be happy until not only have these declarations been authorized, but this community is rebuilt,” Bell said Friday. “So we got a long way to go before we get unconcerned.”
Trump on Friday also approved a second disaster request from Kehoe for storms that occurred in 25 counties in Southeast and Southern Missouri March 30 through April 8 and cost at least $26 million in emergency response and public infrastructure damage. However, that federal action only allows for federal reimbursement to local governments for storm cleanup, not individuals.
Kehoe had requested assistance for homeowners and other individuals impacted by those storms, but FEMA spokeswoman Barb Sturner said the damage did not warrant individual assistance authorization. She said the state can submit additional information to document more damage and try and get FEMA to authorize individual assistance.
The disaster declaration for the March 14 storms makes those impacted in 18 counties, mostly in southern and Southeastern Missouri, eligible for assistance — fewer than the 25 counties Kehoe had requested. Impacted residents in St. Louis, Jefferson and Franklin counties can apply for grants or loans for uninsured damages or losses and find more information at .
Austin Huguelet of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
Mayor Cara Spencer addresses frequently asked questions by tornado victims in her daily tornado updates. Spencer said the condemnation notices residents are seeing are not intended to punish people for entering their homes, the notices are "purely informational." Video courtesy of the City of St. Louis.
