ST. LOUIS – Two weeks ago, Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe requested President Donald Trump issue a federal emergency declaration for the state of Missouri in response to the May 16 tornadoes and severe storms. Last week, Kehoe asked the president to approve a federal disaster declaration. Neither have been approved yet.

“No city is equipped to deal with a disaster the size of this tornado, period. And we need FEMA; we need FEMA’s help,” St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said.

But Spencer noted Monday that getting FEMA’s help is a process.

“We are not the oldest, in fact, we are the newest application,” she said. “We do have the support of our governor, and I am going to remain constructive and hopeful through this process, because I believe it’s the best way for us to move forward in the best shot at getting the federal partnership that we need to be able to best serve our community.”

FEMA representatives have been in St. Louis as part of joint preliminary damage assessments (PDAs). The teams are tasked with surveying and verifying damage to determine if individual and public assistance can be requested from FEMA.

“For those that don’t have insurance, if there’s a major disaster declaration that is approved, then FEMA can come in and provide some additional assistance, along with a host of other voluntary organizations, state partners, other federal partners,” FEMA spokesperson Ryan Lowry-Lee said in a May 28 interview.

FEMA PDAs are a key step in determining whether St. Louis will qualify for a major disaster declaration. FEMA tells me Gov. Kehoe submitted his request for federal assistance to the agency’s regional office. They then sent their recommendations to FEMA headquarters. FEMA headquarters sent its recommendations to President Trump. Now, it’s up to the president—and only the president—to issue the federal declaration.

The governor’s office tells FOX 2 News that Kehoe and his team continue to be in discussions with the White House as well as Missouri’s federal delegation regarding this FEMA request. They do not have any further updates at this time.

FOX 2 also contacted the White House for an update. A White House official responded with the following statement:

The President responds to each request for Federal assistance under the Stafford Act with great care and consideration, ensuring American tax dollars are used appropriately and efficiently by the states to supplement—not substitute, their obligation to respond to and recover from disasters. While the President’s decisions are communicated directly to the Governor of an affected State, the Trump administration remains committed to empowering and working with State and local governments to invest in their own resilience before disaster strikes, making response less urgent and recovery less prolonged.

White House statement