After visiting Globe and Miami, Sen. Ruben Gallego said the government shutdown will not affect the flow of federal relief dollars into the communities as they recover from devastating flash floods.
Torrential monsoon rains last week led to flash flooding in the Miami-Globe area that left at least three people dead and caused widespread damage.
After a visit to the area, Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, credited local citizens and officials for leading the cleanup effort with help from state and federal emergency response teams.
“These towns are very resilient, so they've gone through a lot,” he said. “You could tell that neighbors are helping neighbors, and now the question is like, 'how can we help them recover?'”
According to the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs, state, local and tribal officials are working alongside teams sent from Nevada, Texas and Florida to respond to the flooding.
“The portion of recovery that they're on right now, it seems like they're doing very, very well, largely because of their own local talent and, of course, you know, the help of neighbors as well as the state,” Gallego said.
He said the next step in the recovery process will rely on federal emergency funds to help the affected communities rebuild, and he said the ongoing shutdown won’t affect how quickly federal resources get to the community.
“FEMA employees are working,” Gallego said.
According to NPR, most Federal Emergency Management Agency employees are exempt from shutdown-related furloughs.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs declared a state of emergency for the area, unlocking additional state resources to help with the recovery. Gallego says a similar federal declaration isn’t necessary to unlock the federal grant funding.
It could be weeks or more before county and state officials submit the reports needed to secure federal emergency grants. Gallego said local officials have 60 days to submit documentation to federal officials showing the financial impact of the flooding.
“The county, the state emergency department, have to go through the process of collecting all the information, submitting information, and then eventually the grants will come,” Gallego said. “But that’s not something that’s going to happen anytime soon, so I think right now the shutdown is not affecting us at all.”
However, NPR reported that FEMA’s main funding source, the Disaster Relief Fund, is running low and any new funds would require congressional approval.
“Of course, as I told them, as soon as I know they submitted any requests for support from FEMA, from the federal government, then I'll be, you know, watching like a hawk to make sure that things move,” Gallego said.
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