Colorado has been ravaged by historical flooding as well as an outbreak of wildfires in recent days.
Gov. Jared Polis recently filed a request for a major disaster declaration, hoping to receive federal funding to help with recovery efforts.
Polis got word this week that the declaration request was denied by the Trump administration, which initiated a fresh wave of attacks against the president Democrats.
Last week, reports broke that a fresh wildfire had started in northeastern Colorado.
It has since reportedly spread to 40,000 acres, and with 100mph wind gusts and regular 50-60mph winds in the area, things are only expected to get worse.
Kyle Clark, a 9 News journalist, reported, “NEW: Nine fires are burning across rural Yuma County, Colorado.”
The post continued, "Winds to 50-60mph. Farmers being asked to bring tractors and disks to cut fire lines. No formal evacuations. Appears very fluid. Emergency managers telling people to evacuate for nearest town if fire approaches."
The flooding in Colorado was brought about by unprecedented rains caused by recent tropical storms.
The area has not seen rain and flooding like this since the 1970, forcing many areas in the Southwest part of the state to be evacuated.
An additional problem has developed as a result of excess rainfall in the mountainous areas of the state, which saw about four inches of precipitation over the span of a week during the October storms. This created the risk of mudslides in the area.
The San Juan River area, in particular, saw excessive flooding, as the river had risen to 12.5 feet.
Emergency declarations are usually a formality in such cases, but that was not the situation this time, as the Trump administration denied the disaster request from Colorado.
As a result, Gov. Polis unloaded on Trump, as did Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper (D-CO). who posted, "FEMA’s denial of Colorado’s request for federal disaster assistance is unacceptable. Western Colorado communities need help recovering after the historic flooding and wildfires this year, and federal assistance should be available to every state and county that needs it."
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson responded, “During the fires, the Administration prioritized and mobilized two Modular Aerial Fire Fighting Systems, which are jointly managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Department of War, and retrofitted to C-130s operated by the Air National Guard.” She later added, “There is no politicization to the President’s decisions on disaster relief, unlike under the Biden Administration where FEMA officials refused aid to disaster survivors who displayed political signs and flags they disagreed with.”
I don’t want to get into the actual requirements for disaster relief approval because I don’t think most people really care about that. What Americans will understand is that residents of a blue state were denied critical relief, which is a horrible look for the administration. If I were Trump, I would have a press conference immediately to outline exactly why this declaration was denied, or this is going to create a huge problem for him and Republicans. Even then, it will probably be a bad look, but at least they would be providing the actual reasons for the denial to give people something to ponder.
