{"id":13908,"date":"2026-01-19T19:46:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T02:46:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/polis-appeals-femas-rejection-of-41-million-in-aid-after-western-slope-floods-fires\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:42:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:42:24","slug":"polis-appeals-femas-rejection-of-41-million-in-aid-after-western-slope-floods-fires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/polis-appeals-femas-rejection-of-41-million-in-aid-after-western-slope-floods-fires\/","title":{"rendered":"Polis appeals FEMA\u2019s rejection of $41 million in aid after Western Slope floods, fires"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"An
An excavator stabilizes Vallecito Creek\u2019s banks on Thursday after floodwaters receded after several days of flooding. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Gov. Jared Polis\u2019 administration on Friday filed appeals with the Federal Emergency Management Agency after the agency rejected Colorado\u2019s request for $41 million in disaster aid for Western Slope fires and floods.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are submitting these appeals to help ensure that the Colorado communities impacted can get the support they deserve to recover more quickly,\u201d Polis said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\"Colorado
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (The Colorado Sun)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWhether fires or floods, Coloradans have been deeply impacted by these natural disasters,\u201d Polis said. \u201cWith this appeal, we hope that the federal government steps in to help Coloradans recover stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

In late December, President Donald Trump denied two disaster relief requests for wildfire damage in northwestern Colorado and flooding in the southwest.<\/p>\n

The rejection of the relief requests drew criticism from state officials and U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, a Republican who represents the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cWestern Colorado has long supported the president, and that support comes from communities now facing the real human and economic consequences of recent disasters,\u201d Hurd said in a statement. \u201cLocal leaders and residents are seeking a consistent application of FEMA criteria so recovery efforts can move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"One
One of two houses was demolished Oct. 14 after flooding along Vallecito Creek undercut its foundation, threatening to collapse into the creek and endanger a nearby bridge. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Lee fire was the fourth-largest in the state\u2019s history, reaching more than 137,000 acres. The nearby Elk Fire burned 15,000 acres.<\/p>\n

The fires burned through rugged terrain between Aug. 2 and Aug. 29 and together covered more than 237 square miles, an area larger than the city of Chicago, and caused an estimated $27.4 million in damage.<\/p>\n

About $23.6 million of the damage was the destruction of two White River Electric Association high-voltage transmission lines serving oil and gas operations in the Piceance Basin.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Pine River barely clears the bridge Oct. 14 leading to Five Branches Camper Park in north Vallecito. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cThis region is extremely valuable to Colorado and the nation due to the significant oil and gas production generated in the area,\u201d the appeal said. \u201cThe assets in this region provide approximately 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas daily, which accounts for between 2% and 5% of the United States\u2019 daily consumption.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have submitted all of our information to the state for the appeal and are hoping for the best,\u201d WREA spokesperson Kari Matrisciano said in an interview.<\/p>\n

In September, the state asked for a major disaster declaration from FEMA, opening the way for federal aid. The state had spent $18.5 million for firefighting and recovery, the appeal said.<\/p>\n

The fires also impaired agriculture with mudslides and debris covering a wide area. Irrigation ditches have been filled with silt and fences damaged.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are approximately 6 miles of irrigation ditch maintenance required in the burn area,\u201d the appeal said. \u201cA recent effort to clean only 1.8 miles of the ditch cost $86,000.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Firefighter
Firefighter Chris Canawa of the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District helps Ron Savage evacuate his Vallecito Reservoir home Oct. 11 as floodwaters from Vallecito Creek surround the house. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Flooding affected all or parts of five counties<\/div>\n

In Southwest Colorado, heavy rains between Oct. 10 and Oct. 14 swelled streams and rivers in the Vallecito, Piedra, San Juan River and South Fork Rio Grande basins, covering all or parts of five counties.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe intensity and widespread impacts of the floods pulled significant resources from local and state partners,\u201d the flooding aid appeal said. \u201cThis was compounded by other ongoing emergency incidents that required regional and state resources to be dedicated concurrently.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state spent about $6 million to help deal with the flood damage.<\/p>\n

The floods damaged the infrastructure of counties, municipalities and special districts, causing $13.8 million in debris removal costs and damage to roads, culverts and other publicly owned infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Archuleta County alone, the per-capita indicator equates to more than $995 per person to repair damages to roads and other county infrastructure,\u201d the appeal said. \u201cThe total annual road repair and maintenance budget for the county falls vastly short at approximately $7 million, when total costs exceed $13,292,000.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, in warning of economic fallout from disasters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1497,28,29,1500,84],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-13908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-flood","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter","tag-vallecito","tag-wildfire"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13908"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19224,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13908\/revisions\/19224"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13908"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=13908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}