WASHINGTON -- When the town of Kaycee, Wyo., was hit by an enormous surge of water from the Powder River in 2002, 80 percent of the town's businesses and one-third of its residences were damaged or destroyed. But the town didn't qualify for federal disaster assistance.

The same thing happened in rural Montana earlier this year, when a snowy windstorm knocked out 1,000 power poles at a rural electric cooperative and left 1,500 customers without power for up to seven days.

Wright, Wyo., proved more fortunate, receiving a presidential disaster declaration Monday for tornadoes that hit Aug. 12. But local officials were pessimistic before they heard the news.

''You can darn near destroy a town and still not reach the threshold," said David King, emergency coordinator for Campbell County, Wyo., where the tornadoes hit.

Despite Wright's declaration, state and local emergency officials in rural areas are increasingly frustrated that their towns are often deemed less needy than larger areas.

Federal Emergency Management Agency regulations say damages should reach more than $1 million for the federal government to provide public assistance. Many local officials also cite an unwritten ''rule of thumb" that 100 homes must be damaged to qualify, though FEMA denies that exists.

Jim Anderson, a disaster recovery manager with Montana Disaster and Emergency Services, said he was ''baffled" by the federal government's decision not to help his state, especially since similar requests had been approved in past years.

''They've got to realize what that does to the rural economies in the Western states," he said. ''We need a voice."

Anderson is lobbying for legislation sponsored by Rep. Barbara Cubin, R-Wyo., that would create an advocate at the agency for rural areas. It would also force FEMA to conduct a study detailing the extent to which disaster declaration regulations ''meet the particular needs" of states with a population of less than 1 million.

When she introduced the bill, Cubin said a disaster in Washington, D.C., comparable to the Kaycee flood would have destroyed 96,196 homes and 15,575 businesses.

''Washington, D.C., would not function after such a catastrophe, and neither can Kaycee," she said.

The thresholds are merely guidelines, says FEMA spokeswoman Natalie Rule. The agency also looks at the concentration of damage, the number of uninsured people affected, local disaster history and the extent to which state and local mitigation efforts were effective in reducing the damage.

''The regulations are always followed, and every disaster is different," Rule said. ''We come in as supplemental aid, so there has to be an exhaustion of state and local resources."

FEMA gives out two types of grants -- public aid for local governments, and individual aid for residents. Business owners can also qualify for loans from the Small Business Administration.

Often one type of aid comes through, while the other is denied.

North Dakota received public assistance for flooding that ravaged the state in June, but several individual grants were denied, said a spokesman for the state.

Duncan Higgins, deputy director of Vermont Emergency Management, says FEMA's regulations are vague and often confusing for individuals seeking to file claims. Parts of his state are vulnerable to massive flooding, and the state's only member of the House -- independent Bernie Sanders -- has signed on to Cubin's bill.

''I think there appears to be a lack of information, particularly for small states," Higgins said. ''If there were someone there who could help, that could be beneficial to the state of Vermont."

He adds, though, that ''the devil is in the details." If FEMA did have a rural advocate, it is unclear how much that would help.

Joe Milczewski, a spokesman for Cubin, said Monday that Wright's declaration is encouraging.

''Hopefully this shows a renewed commitment by FEMA to look after rural communities with the same level of concern as has been shown to the urban centers," he said. ''Rural folks in Wyoming pay taxes at the same rate as city dwellers on the East Coast, and they deserve the same level of federal support when a disaster strikes."

Milczewski said Cubin would continue to push her legislation.

''Federal aid in these situations should be assured, not a welcome surprise," he said.

In Wisconsin, where 28 tornadoes touched down last week and caused $21 million in damage, state officials were cautious about predicting what the government would do.

''We'll see what the numbers show," said Lori Getter, spokeswoman for Wisconsin Emergency Management.