flooding

DENVER — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis accused President Trump of playing “political games” Sunday after the federal government denied disaster declaration requests after wildfires and flooding in the state earlier this year.

Polis’ office said he received two denial letters from the Federal Emergency Management Agency late Saturday. The letters are in response to requests for major disaster declarations following wildfires and mudslides in August and what Polis had described as “historic flooding” across southwestern Colorado in October.

Polis and Colorado’s U.S. senators, fellow Democrats Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, decried the denials. Polis said the state would appeal.

“Coloradans impacted by the Elk and Lee fires and the flooding in Southwestern Colorado deserve better than the political games President Trump is playing,” he said in a statement.

Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, said Trump responds to each request for federal disaster assistance “with great care and consideration, ensuring American tax dollars are used appropriately and efficiently by the states to supplement — not substitute — their obligation to respond to and recover from disasters.”

Jackson said there is “no politicization” in Trump’s decisions on disaster aid.

The Trump administration has also yet to act on California’s request for $33.9 million in long-term disaster assistance nearly a year after the Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles. Gov. Gavin Newsom said FEMA officials refused his request for a meeting when he visited Washington a few weeks ago.

Trump has raised the idea of “phasing out” FEMA, saying he wants states to take more responsibility. States already take the lead in disasters, but federal assistance comes into play when the needs exceed what they can manage on their own.

Dec. 20 (UPI) — A flood watch is in effect in the greater Portland area and large portions of western Oregon and southwestern Washington as rainy conditions continue.

The National Weather Service issued the flood watch on Saturday morning, which is in effect until 4 p.m. PST and follows a week of heavy rainfall, Oregon Live reported.

Local flooding is likeliest in urban areas and in locations with relatively little water drainage, and the day’s forecast calls for an 80% chance of rainfall during the morning hours.

The Sandy and Clackamas rivers are especially vulnerable to flooding, and at least one person has died as many roads in western Oregon became covered by landslides and other weather-related damage, according to OPB.

“The Clackamas River in the last 24 hours, we’ve been seeing 3 to 4 inches [of rain] and in some cases even higher amounts southeast of Estacada,” NWS meteorologist Sebastian Westerink told OPB on Friday.

“Those amounts are certainly contributing to the rapid rise of the river,” he added.

Despite the continued rainy weather, most local evacuation orders were lifted on Friday in areas along and near the Clackamas River, KATU reported.

The river set a new record when it crested at 26.25 feet during the early morning hours on Friday. The prior record was 25.52 feet in 1972.

The rainy weather likely will continue through Sunday as a cool and moist airmass covers much of the region.

Hundreds of local residents have evacuated the area, and some flood waters have started to recede but many bodies of water will remain higher than normal into Sunday, NWS forecasters said.

Some, though, took advantage of rare whitewater kayaking opportunities afforded by the week’s weather.

Many traveled to Gladstone’s High Rocks Park, where local waters were flowing at a very high rate on Friday and could continue doing so through the weekend.

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