President Trump Approves Governor Kehoe’s Request for Major Disaster Declaration in Response to Memorial Weekend Severe Storms

JULY 23, 2025

Jefferson City — Today, Governor Mike Kehoe announced that President Donald J. Trump has approved Missouri's request for a major disaster declaration for five southwest Missouri counties in response to the severe storms, straight-line winds, hail, heavy rains, and flooding that occurred throughout Memorial Day weekend, May 23-26. This is Missouri’s fifth major disaster declaration since March.

“For the past four months, communities across Missouri have been heavily damaged by continuing severe storms, with some of the most devastated areas affected once again by this four-day severe weather event,” Governor Kehoe said. “I spoke personally with President Trump last night, and we appreciate his approval of this federal assistance, which will provide millions of dollars to assist in rebuilding infrastructure that is vital to the recovery of the impacted communities.”
 

The President's action makes the FEMA Public Assistance program available to local governments and qualifying nonprofits for the repair and restoration of damaged roads, bridges, and other public infrastructure as well as reimbursement of emergency response costs in Dade, Douglas, Ozark, Vernon, and Webster counties.

Governor Kehoe requested the federal disaster declaration on June 21, following joint Preliminary Damage Assessments that were conducted in early June. Damage and response costs were estimated at more than $13.5 million.

The other four federal Major Disaster Declarations during Governor Kehoe’s term in office are:

For more information on the federal disaster declaration process, visit this link.

For additional resources and information about disaster recovery in Missouri, please visit recovery.mo.gov.

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