Trump approves $19.9 million for mid-Missouri after catastrophic July flooding

President Donald Trump has approved Missouri’s request for a major disaster declaration following catastrophic flooding and severe storms that battered parts of the state in July.

Trump announced Tuesday that he approved $19.9 million in federal assistance to help Missouri recover from storms, damaging winds and flooding.

Gov. Mike Kehoe said the approval covers the July 9-11 disaster, when extreme rainfall caused widespread flash flooding across south-central and southeastern Missouri. Kehoe thanked Trump and Missouri’s congressional delegation for supporting the request.

Missouri had requested federal assistance for Bollinger, Crawford, Iron, Madison, Morgan, Reynolds, Ripley, Washington and Wayne counties.

Preliminary assessments found more than $26.5 million in damage and emergency response costs, including roughly $19.7 million in Iron County alone.

More than 300 rescue missions were conducted during the flooding, including the evacuation of more than 200 campers and counselors from Camp Taum Sauk.

The federal assistance is expected to help cover emergency response costs and repairs to roads, bridges and other damaged public infrastructure.