Trump approves Nebraska disaster declaration for mid-March winter storms

LINCOLN — President Donald Trump this week approved a federal disaster declaration for mid-March winter storms in Nebraska with damage estimates exceeding $64 million.

Gov. Jim Pillen announced that Trump had signed the April 11 request this week. The federal declaration, the first request from Pillen in 2025 and his first under Trump, opens federal funding to cover damage costs in 27 counties. Much of the damage resulted from downed electrical lines and damaged utility poles — more than 1,700 poles were downed or destroyed. 

Major roadways closed due to the storm — producing thunderstorms, sleet, high winds and blizzard conditions — including a 160-mile stretch of Interstate 80. 

An estimated 200,000 customers were left without power at the height of the storm, and some communities established emergency shelters to help those without electricity for a prolonged time.

Pillen had written to Trump that it was “one of the most destructive winter weather events to impact Nebraska in recent history” and that “emergency services were pushed to their limits.” 

“I appreciate President Trump’s attention to Nebraska and his approval of this disaster request,” Pillen said in a statement. “Federal funding will help cover the tremendous costs that were incurred as a result of this weather event.”

It’s not uncommon for some disaster declarations to be denied, but with some calls to shut down the Federal Emergency Management Agency altogether, including from Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, some national and state leaders had expressed concern. 

A spokesman for the National Security Council previously said states had to take on a more extensive role in emergency preparedness, including “an appetite to own the problem.”

Some local officials have told the Nebraska Examiner that if Trump had denied the Nebraska request, the costs could have fallen back on local property taxes.

Trump approved the request for 27 counties: Boone, Burt, Butler, Cass, Clay, Colfax, Cuming, Dodge, Douglas, Fillmore, Hamilton, Jefferson, Johnson, Lancaster, Nuckolls, Otoe, Platte, Polk, Saline, Sarpy, Saunders, Seward, Thayer, Thurston, Washington, Webster and York.

Pillen’s office said the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency has begun working with local emergency managers and public entities now eligible for assistance, including public utilities.

In 2024, under President Joe Biden, Pillen requested and was granted five federal disasters as he expressed a greater willingness to seek federal funding than his predecessors. Those declarations opened up $120 million in estimated preliminary damage costs for Nebraska.

Pillen this year also signed a state-level disaster declaration in February for wildfires in Custer and Dawes County and in April for a prescribed burn that got out of control in north-central Nebraska. He did not file a corresponding federal disaster request for either.