WPRI | Featuring Bryan Koon
On Tuesday, FEMA denied Rhode Island’s request for $19 million in disaster relief for the Blizzard of ’26. The state is now appealing the decision.
“The appeal is pretty much going to go the same route,” Bryan Koon, president and CEO of disaster management consulting firm IEM, said. “It goes to the FEMA regional administrator and then back to FEMA again, so it doesn’t change paths. They’re often not successful because of that.”
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According to both Koon and Rumbach, snow disaster aid declarations are less likely to be approved as the federal government believes the state or city should be prepared budget-wise for weather-related disasters that happen in their area.