WA governor says December flooding caused historic damage. He has a price tag
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson announced Tuesday that the state is asking the federal government to declare a major disaster for infrastructure damages incurred during December’s historic flooding.
He also provided a preliminary cost estimate for the damages: $182.3 million.
The first-term Democrat delivered the update on the state’s petition to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at a news event in the Governor’s Conference Room ahead of the Wednesday deadline for that submission.
“In terms of damage assessments that we are submitting to FEMA, this historic flooding resulted in, we believe, the largest dollar amount of public infrastructure damage in Washington state in more than four decades,” Ferguson said, “and that’s accounting for inflation.”
This is separate from a request sent to the federal government last month, which focused on helping families affected by the floods, he added. In late January, Ferguson said that he’d sent President Donald Trump a letter seeking a federal major disaster declaration and asked FEMA to open funding for survivors, an estimated $21.3 million.
The other part of the request, Ferguson said, is to approve Washington for the federal Public Assistance Program, which provides up to three-quarters federal reimbursement for qualifying repairs. Such repairs would include clearing debris, mending roads and bridges, and more. The remaining 25% would fall to local and state governments to cover, he said.
Ferguson noted that the preliminary estimate will increase; some roads, for example, are under snow but still need to be assessed.
In addition, Ferguson said the state is applying for FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to help support projects aimed at preparing for future disasters. If approved the state could see up to 20% of its total damage assessment covered, or more than $36 million of the roughly $182 million, he said.
Of note: The preliminary assessment doesn’t include harm to federal or certain state highways, Ferguson said; for instance, the request doesn’t include Highway 2. He said the state is working with the Federal Highway Administration to get funding in a separate process but said it was too soon to know an estimate on those damages.
The timing for when FEMA will respond to the state’s applications is unclear, he added.
Earlier on Tuesday, Attorney General Nick Brown announced that Washington, alongside a multistate coalition, asked a Massachusetts district court judge to enforce an order barring FEMA from ending a program aimed at disaster mitigation. Such funding helps Washington ensure its infrastructure can stand up to flooding destruction and other disasters, Brown said in a Feb. 17 news release.
Washington and the coalition won a lawsuit more than two months ago against FEMA over the termination of the program. Since then, the federal agency hasn’t flagged actual steps being taken to get the program back up and running, according to the AG’s office.
“Every day our communities have to wait for these funds leaves them vulnerable to the kind of devastation we saw from flooding in December,” Brown said in the release. “More delay puts homes, businesses, and lives at risk.”
Nearly 2,000 projects nationwide over the past four years have been named to receive some $4.5 billion in funding from the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program, according to Brown’s office. Roughly two dozen BRIC projects in Washington totaling over $150 million have “been in limbo” because of the feds, the release says.
Ferguson also spoke to concerns that the Trump administration might not approve the state’s pitch for federal funding. In the past, disaster requests would have been granted, but that isn’t necessarily the case anymore, he said.
The governor referenced bipartisan letters from the state Legislature and congressional delegation advocating for the federal help.
“I appreciate the bipartisan support for this … and the business community getting engaged and cities and local mayors,” Ferguson said, adding that “those voices will make a big difference.”
Part of Ferguson’s news event was also focused on a fiercely debated proposed income tax on earnings more than $1 million, which passed the Senate on Monday on a 27-22 vote. According to the Washington State Standard, Ferguson has said the bill is headed in the “right direction” after urging the upper chamber to make certain tweaks earlier this month.
This story was originally published February 17, 2026 at 2:30 PM with the headline "WA governor says December flooding caused historic damage. He has a price tag."
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