Governor Hickenlooper Notified of FEMA Denial for Additional County Designations

This afternoon Governor Hickenlooper was notified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of the denial of additional county designations for disaster assistance. In September the State had requested Individual Assistance for 17 counties, Public Assistance (Categories A-G) for 20 counties, Public Assistance (Categories A-B) for one county and Hazard Mitigation statewide.

The letter from FEMA stated, “...based on the results of the joint federal, state, and local government Preliminary Damage Assessments, it has been determined that the damage to the residences in Broomfield, Denver, Gilpin, Otero, and Pueblo Counties is not of the severity and magnitude to warrant their designation under the Individual Assistance program. Furthermore, it has been determined that the damage to the infrastructure in Broomfield, Otero, and Pueblo Counties is not of the severity to warrant their designation under the Public Assistance program.”

The state has the right to appeal the denial within 30 days. Currently, the Governor’s Office is reviewing the denial and associated data to make a decision on whether or not to appeal.

Previous FEMA Awards for Colorado Flood Disaster Assistance

FEMA has previously awarded Individual Assistance for 11 counties, including: Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Clear Creek, El Paso, Fremont, Jefferson, Larimer, Logan, Morgan and Weld. The deadline to apply for disaster assistance is November 14.

FEMA has previously awarded Public Assistance (Categories A-G) for 18 counties, including Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Clear Creek, Crowley, Denver, El Paso, Fremont, Gilpin, Jefferson, Lake, Larimer, Lincoln, Logan, Morgan, Sedgwick, Washington and Weld.  Public Assistance (Category B Emergency Protective Measures - Direct Federal Assistance) for Broomfield and Pueblo.

FEMA also previously awarded Hazard Mitigation statewide.

Download the Media Release.