FEMA head sounds the alarm over disaster funding after double hurricanes

The money available to help communities hit by disasters has shrunk after back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency chief said Wednesday that the funding problems might jeopardize the government’s ability to respond to new emergencies in the future.

During a Senate hearing with other agency heads, Deanne Criswell warned that FEMA’s disaster relief fund — the country’s emergency checkbook — is down to less than $5 billion.

The Biden administration has asked Congress for nearly $100 billion in disaster aid. About $40 billion of that money would go to FEMA’s disaster relief fund.

The agency draws on that fund to pay for debris removal, help communities rebuild public infrastructure, and give money to disaster survivors for costs, including renting hotel rooms if their homes are uninhabitable.

The rest of the money would be split across other federal agencies:

— $24 billion for farmers who have experienced crop or livestock losses.

— $12 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s block grant programs to help communities recover.

— $8 billion for rebuilding and repairing highways and bridges.

— $4 billion for long-term water system upgrades to mitigate future damage from natural disasters.

FEMA received $20.2 billion as part of a temporary government funding bill passed by Congress in September. However, less than half of that money went toward recovery from disasters that had already occurred.

Criswell says the agency has over 100 disasters on its books, and it is still paying out money to help with recovery efforts.

She says FEMA has paid nearly $8 billion in federal assistance in response to hurricanes Helene and Milton. As of Wednesday, its disaster relief fund has less than $5 billion left.

“These needs have rapidly exhausted our available funds, and without a supplemental, our ability to respond to new disasters could be jeopardized,” Criswell said.

She said FEMA is assessing whether to allocate funds to immediate needs. That’s when the agency pulls back money from long-term projects that address past disasters to ensure enough money to pay for lifesaving, immediate needs for upcoming disasters.

“It is very clear that the stakes are high as our communities face more frequent and devastating disasters; they increasingly rely on FEMA and our federal partners,” Criswell said.

The Committee also heard from two Senators from Georgia and North Carolina, which were particularly hard hit by Helene and Milton.

Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat, detailed the damage the storms had wrought on the state’s farmers and ranchers. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, spoke passionately about the struggles the western part of his state still faces in recovering from Helene.

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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.