While former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee traveled to the Middle East this weekend for the first time as President Trump’s U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Huckabee’s daughter, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is appealing the Trump administration’s decision to withhold federal assistance to Arkansas after a series of devastating fatal tornados and flooding in March.
According to the Arkansas Times, Sanders “specifically requested help in the form of small business loans and individual assistance for people in Greene, Hot Springs, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Lawrence, Randolph, Sharp and Stone counties,” but the Trump administration declined to declare a disaster.
The administration, which has been making major cuts at FEMA, said the fatal storms were “not of such severity and magnitude as to be beyond the capabilities of the state, affected local governments, and voluntary agencies,” concluding that federal assistance was not necessary.
After another series of storms and flooding hit Arkansas three weeks later, in April, and took the lives of an additional three Arkansans, Sanders appealed the federal disaster declaration denial on Friday and is awaiting a response.
In Sanders’s letter of appeal to President Trump she wrote “I respectfully request that you reconsider your denial.”
The Governor noted: “The median income for Arkansans is $58,700; however, a large percentage of homes affected represent individuals below the poverty level, which creates a hardship for individuals needing to repair or replace their property.”
Sanders also provided a detailed list of “disaster-related unemployment” — damaged and destroyed farms, volunteer fire departments, and grocery stores that have impacted local rural communities “and will be felt for years to come.”