Virginia Sens. George Allen and John Warner and Rep. Jim Moran sent Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff letters Tuesday requesting the Federal Emergency Management Agency reconsider its July 31 decision to deny Virginia federal assistance after torrential rains triggered flooding in parts of the state.

The senators’ letter states: “we have not received any information with respect to why our state’s request for individual assistance in these areas was denied. With respect to Fairfax County, it was originally reported that assistance was denied because of the county’s ‘affluence;’ however, FEMA later described this statement as ‘inaccurate.’”

During the course of the torrential storms that battered the Commonwealth in late June and early July, an estimated $22 million in damage was done in the affected areas. Virginia’s Alleghany, Arlington, Botetourt, Fairfax and Montgomery counties, as well as the independent cities of Alexandria and Salem, appealed for federal assistance when President Bush declared them disaster areas.

mmartin@dcexaminer.com