Merced County to receive portion of relief funding approved by Trump

Merced County is among the California regions set to benefit from an allocation of more than a half billion dollars approved by President Donald Trump to help repair damage from winter storms.

The money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), approved by Trump on Sunday, will assist with emergency and permanent repairs from storms in February.

In Merced County, the money will go toward fixing roads and levees and debris removal, said Jeremy Rahn, deputy director of the Merced County Office of Emergency Services.

Merced County is poised to receive about $4 million for damages caused by rain and flooding in January. The money approved Sunday will send and additional $7 million to $9 million for the February damage, Rahn said.

The county Office of Emergency Services is working with FEMA, the public works department and county auditor this week to assess the damage and complete paperwork necessary for reimbursement, county spokesman Mike North said.

County crews in February had to cut open the road on Arboleda Drive to allow water to flow faster and prevent damage to residences, Rahn said. Multiple other roads sustained flood damage as well. Several levees broke throughout the county as debris backed up the water flowing through creeks.

Emergency repairs will be funded within six months, and permanent repairs in 18 months, Rahn said.

Disaster relief is generally viewed as a dispassionate function of government. But Trump’s repeated rebukes of the state and its policies – from threats to defund “sanctuary cities” that shield unauthorized immigrants to warnings to withdraw federal funding from the University of California, Berkeley, over violent protests there – have inflamed fears that California would be punished for its strong independent streak.

Even as Gov. Jerry Brown met to discuss storm damage and transportation and infrastructure projects, he didn’t refrain from criticizing the Republican-led effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and Trump’s proposed wall along the U.S. Mexico border.

Yet, for all the trepidation, Trump has come through on the storm-damage requests each time the Brown administration has asked him.

Trump’s fourth declaration makes available money for hazard mitigation measures statewide. It covers 42 counties, including Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Kings, Mariposa and Merced. The White House said additional designations can be made later if requested by the state and warranted by further damage assessments.

This story was originally published April 3, 2017 at 4:08 PM with the headline "Merced County to receive portion of relief funding approved by Trump."