WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has approved a major disaster declaration for Florida after Hurricane Isaias, unlocking federal public assistance for 15 Panhandle and Big Bend counties nearly three weeks after the Category 2 storm made landfall near Destin, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced.
The declaration, signed on October 27, makes federal funding available to state and local governments and certain nonprofits in Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Liberty, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Wakulla, Walton and Washington counties, according to FEMA. The money can reimburse emergency work and debris removal and pay for repairs to damaged public roads, buildings and utilities. It builds on an emergency declaration issued on October 9, the day Isaias came ashore, which covered only immediate response work.
One point is already causing confusion locally: the declaration approves Public Assistance only. Individual Assistance — the program that pays households directly for temporary housing and basic home repairs — is still under review, as is hazard mitigation funding, according to a FEMA fact sheet reported by the Pensacola News Journal and the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Some lawmakers’ social media posts have described the declaration as releasing aid to residents and households, which the FEMA fact sheet does not support yet. Florida had asked for Individual Assistance for eight of the counties in its October 16 request.
The need is large. Insured losses in Florida approach $582 million, with more than 55,000 claims filed statewide, including about 26,000 in Santa Rosa County and nearly 17,000 in Escambia County, according to the News Service of Florida. Local governments face an estimated $99 million in debris-removal costs alone. Isaias brought gusts of 117 mph at Oriole Beach and knocked out power to more than 400,000 customers at its peak, according to FOX Weather, and Governor Ron DeSantis has said six storm-related deaths were reported.
In Milton, in Santa Rosa County, city manager Ed Spears told FOX Weather that an estimated 400,000 to 500,000 cubic yards of debris still await removal. "A lot of the resources are starting to dry up and go away. We’re still here, knee-deep in it every day," he said. The state says it has completed about 1,900 response missions and distributed more than 350,000 meals and 33,000 tarps since landfall.
County governments can now apply for reimbursement through the state, and recovery centers remain open in Escambia, Okaloosa, Walton and Washington counties, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which posts updates at FloridaDisaster.org. Whether households receive direct federal help depends on the pending Individual Assistance decision, which FEMA has not dated.
