SEATTLE — Federal disaster assistance has been made available to Washington state following severe weather that struck in December, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Saturday.
The assistance covers recovery efforts for damage caused by severe storms, straight-line winds, flooding, landslides and mudslides that occurred from Dec. 5–19, 2025.
Under the presidential disaster declaration, federal funding is available to affected individuals in Chelan, Grays Harbor, King, Lewis, Pacific, Pierce, Skagit, Snohomish, Thurston and Whatcom counties.
The declaration also includes multiple tribal communities: the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, Lummi Nation, Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, Nisqually Indian Tribe, Nooksack Indian Tribe, Puyallup Tribe, Quinault Indian Nation, Samish Indian Nation, Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe, Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe, Snoqualmie Indian Tribe, Squaxin Island Tribe, Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Tulalip Tribes and the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe.
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Assistance for individuals may include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs designed to help people recover from the disaster.
Residents who sustained losses are advised to first file claims with their insurance providers.
They can then apply for federal assistance online at DisasterAssistance.gov, by calling 1-800-621-3362, or by using the FEMA app.
Those using relay services, such as video relay service or captioned telephone service, are instructed to provide FEMA with the number for that service.
In addition to individual aid, federal Public Assistance funding is available on a cost-sharing basis for the state, tribal and eligible local governments, as well as certain private nonprofit organizations.
This funding supports emergency work and the repair or replacement of damaged facilities.
Public Assistance applies to a broader list of counties: Asotin, Chelan, Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Garfield, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Pend Oreille, Pierce, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Wahkiakum, Whatcom and Yakima. It also includes numerous tribal entities, including the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and others across the state.
FEMA named John F. Harrison as the federal coordinating officer for recovery operations in the affected areas.
Additional designations may be made if requested by the state and supported by further damage assessments.
For those in Whatcom County, where cities like Sumas and Everson saw widespread flooding consume their streets, the recovery is still ongoing.
“It’s really difficult because they’re tied into a mortgage that they can’t really get out of,” explained John Perry, the Mayor of Everson, “It forces them to rebuild their homes to maintain whatever value they have in it, and they’ve seen insurance rates triple or quadruple over the last five years.” he stated, when talking about the financial situations of many residents.
Perry says the flooding in December, which was the second major flood in four years, has really drained his community’s spirit.
“The overall attitude of the community, it’s tougher this go around,” Perry said, “There’s a lot of people that have said they won’t do it a third time, so we were seeing people move out.”
He explains that FEMA assistance is a key crutch for local governments and small cities getting back on their feet, but for residents, it’s not always a catch-all resolution.
“In 2021, the average household got about $6,000, and so I think the cap is around 40[thousand], but you have to hit a lot of, [you’ve] got to qualify in a lot of different areas to get that,” said Perry, “So it does help, but it doesn’t solve the whole problem.”
Ashley Butenschoen is the Vice President of Whatcom Long Term Recovery Group, an organization that’s been on the ground directly helping around 600 households in the region to get their livelihoods back in order. Perry is a member of their board as well.
She contends, that while the funding doesn’t fill all the cracks in the system, it still provides a much needed boost to those now months into the rebuilding process.
“This was a big component for those who do qualify, who can get that help,” Butenschoen said, “So it is important and it will provide a sense of hope for people,” she added.
While driving through the streets of Sumas on Saturday afternoon, some businesses can be seen still closed up or in the dark, and numerous homes can be seen either in repair, in the process of being raised up several feet, or are still empty altogether with construction visible inside.
For many of those residents still grappling with the recovery, Butenschoen says they’ll continue to be there for them with these federal dollars now on the table.
“We will come beside them and walk them through the paperwork and we’ll be ready for FEMA when they show up.” she said, “We just ask that everyone keep all of their receipts, it’s going to be very important to show documentation and just be ready.”
Butenschoen says that there’s no clear timeline yet on how long it will take for the money to make its way to individual communities, as the process can be drawn out.
“For this phase, it comes federally [then goes to the] state Emergency Management Division, then County Emergency Management Division, and then we’ll start reimbursing clients.” she explained.
She added that there are other avenues that could also assist those in need, such as actions on the state level.
“There are some things that would really help if the Governor could do, like a couple Emergency Declarations: One would be like when we raise our houses, that there not have to be any prevailing wage.” Butenschoen said, making reference to the minimum hourly rate and benefits that contractors have to pay their workers on Public Works projects.
“We could do way more homes in a quicker time and be resilient and ready. Not for every home that wants to be raised ‘just because’, but just the ones who have been hit, especially time and time again.” she added.
