Indiana Flooding Exposes Climate Funding Cuts and FEMA Delays
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- Flooding from Creitz Creek damaged roughly 250 of Cambridge City's 1,700 homes after about 10 inches of rain fell in one morning on August 12—three times the town's average for the entire month of August—with 175 homes experiencing significant damage.
- Record flooding across central and eastern Indiana destroyed critical infrastructure, displaced more than 1,000 people, and killed seven; a section of Interstate-70 was washed away a few miles north of Cambridge City.
- Indiana's Republican-led legislature cut state environmental agency funding by 19% between 2010 and 2024, while neighboring Ohio and Michigan increased resources by 19% and 78% respectively, and the state senate environmental affairs committee twice refused to consider a climate solutions taskforce.
- Indiana is one of 18 states with no climate action plan per the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, and its state disaster relief fund stood at just $2 million before the flooding—far below the $5 billion estimated cost of this month's storms.
- FEMA under the Trump administration approved disaster aid for more than 50 Indiana counties but capped it at $5 million, and has turned down more than 30 disaster declarations nationally while taking longer to approve requests.
- Indiana Governor Mike Braun submitted a disaster declaration to FEMA on August 21 that would release millions in federal support to flood victims, but ten days later no response had been received.
Why it matters: In a state with no climate action plan and a legislature that cut environmental funding 19% over a decade, $5 billion in estimated storm damages vastly outstrips the $5 million in FEMA-approved aid and a state relief fund that started at $2 million. Low-income residents are still waiting on FEMA to respond to Governor Braun's August 21 disaster declaration.
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