In response to the Joplin tornado, Gov. Jay Nixon has asked the federal government to cover 100 percent of the uninsured damage costs.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has already committed to cover 90 percent of the cost of debris removal. In the past, FEMA has been responsible for 75 percent of total clean-up costs and public assistance, and the remaining 25 percent is covered by non-federal agencies, including state and local governments.
“The request asks the federal government to pay 100 percent for what is called public assistance,“ Nixon spokesman Scott Holste said. “This is for the costs incurred by state and local government for responding to these disasters and for repairing, rebuilding and replacing public infrastructure and public buildings.”
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., sent a letter to President Barack Obama, calling on FEMA to reimburse qualified expenditures at 100 percent, the figure that was also used for recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
“The traditional 75-25 percent cost-sharing would be totally inappropriate in this circumstance,” Blunt said.
Blunt addressed the Senate floor earlier this week, pleading with them to make the extra 10 percent jump to fund 100 percent of the damage instead of the proposed 90 percent
If granted, this measure would cover all natural disasters that have impacted the state since April 19, including the Joplin and Sedalia tornadoes, flooding across southern and southeastern Missouri and damage suffered to the St. Louis area and Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
“We’re not going to guess whether this request will be granted, but the costs of these disasters are so extraordinary, we believe the federal government should pay more than the standard 75 percent in these instances,” Holste said.
The exact cost of rebuilding Joplin is still unknown, but authorities have estimated it to be upwards of $3 billion, CNN reported.