10/28/2026
Too little, too late: President Trump finally approves a major disaster declaration, but individuals still can’t get assistance
Yesterday, President Trump finally approved a major disaster declaration for Florida. This approval comes a shocking 18 days after Hurricane Isaias devastated communities across the panhandle of the state. For reference, a majority of hurricane-related major disaster declaration requests of the last decade were granted within a day of the storms making landfall, with outliers taking as long as a week. This time, the entire process was plagued with unnecessary delays, from Governor DeSantis requesting the declaration to Trump approving it.
Worse, the declaration itself is incomplete and totally inadequate to meet the scale of the need, unleashing funds only for local governments’ use toward “emergency work and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged public facilities”. Meanwhile, applications for individual assistance remain closed. It is not clear whether the federal government will approve any assistance for the regular people in our community, whose homes have been damaged or destroyed, who have lost their groceries and wages, and who are in crisis through no fault of their own.
For more than 18 days, countless people have been abandoned to suffer unnecessarily in the wake of a devastating hurricane, and there is no end in sight. Many are scrambling to find safe housing. Others are struggling to even get their damaged roofs tarped before the next rainstorm brings greater damage to their homes. Still others don’t know how they’ll make November’s rent after a week of lost wages due to the storm. Instead of being honest about the situation we are in and fighting for those people, our local political leaders have misled our people, pretending that help is just around the corner. These politicians have downplayed the impact of Isaias and celebrated President Trump’s too-little, too-late disaster declaration. The people will not be fooled – we demand full relief now!
