FEMA agrees to cover flood damage

N.M. residents hurt by wildfire, downpours may update claims

Residents of counties impacted the worst by flooding, mudflow and debris-flow damage got some good news Thursday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency granted Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s request to include flooding impacts in the state’s natural disaster declaration for relief for those counties affected by the wildfires.

The news means people in Colfax, Lincoln, Mora, San Miguel and Valencia counties can now apply for funding assistance.

According to a news release issued by FEMA on Thursday, residents who had already applied for federal aid because of damage done by the wildfires do not have to apply again for flood aid — they just have to update their assistance application.

Lujan Grisham had requested the additional flood impact coverage earlier this summer from President Joe Biden, who initially approved the governor’s request for a presidential disaster declaration in May, a month or so after the state’s largest wildfire in history — the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire — began as the result of two federal prescribed burns gone wrong.

In June, after visiting New Mexico, Biden agreed to grant Lujan Grisham’s request for the federal government to cover 100 percent of costs for emergency protective work and debris removal connected to the fire.

Last week, she asked him to expand that to flood impact coverage after heavy rain led to flash flooding in many counties dealing with burn scars from fires. “The ongoing monsoon season is exacerbating the devastation in burn scar areas and intensifying the need for federal resources to respond to and recover from wildfires,” the governor said at the time.

On Thursday, her office issued a news release in which Lujan Grisham said she is grateful to the president and to FEMA for granting the request.

“This action will make additional support available for New Mexicans who have already suffered great losses this year,” she said.