Joe Biden is urging lawmakers to replenish the coffers of disaster relief programs as expected recovery and reconstruction costs related to Hurricane Helene are estimated to reach as much as $200 billion over a decade.
In a letter to congressional leaders, the president said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) and the Department of Defense are capable of conducting “critical lifesaving and life-sustaining missions and will continue to do so within current funding levels,” they will need additional financing.
“My administration has provided robust and well-coordinated federal support for the ongoing response and recovery efforts,” Biden wrote.
“As with other catastrophic disasters, it will take time to assess the full requirements for response and recovery efforts, and I fully expect that Congress will do its part to provide the necessary funding.”
Biden said a comprehensive disaster relief package would be needed when Congress returns on Nov. 12 — but said action on individual programs could be needed before then. But there are currently no plans for Congress to reconvene before the election.
Related: Survived, Missing, Dead: Stories from Hurricane Helene’s Deadly Path
The request comes as Kamala Harris interrupted a campaign across western states to visit western North Carolina in the southern Appalachians, where entire towns were being washed away.
Biden reviewed the damage and cleanup efforts in the Carolinas from the air on Wednesday, and again in Florida and Georgia on Thursday. He said the rebuilding work will cost “billions of dollars” and that additional funding for disaster relief “cannot wait… people need help now”.
At least 225 people have been confirmed killed by Helene, and officials say they expect the death toll to continue to rise as recovery efforts continue. A spokesperson for the police department in Asheville, North Carolina, told CBS News in an email late Friday that it was “actively working on 75 missing persons cases.” Nearly 1 million people are still without power.
In his letter to lawmakers, Biden said funding through the Small Business Administration (SBA) “will run out in a matter of weeks and well before Congress plans to reconvene.”
The SBA is intended to assist small business owners and homeowners in recovering property and equipment through the disaster relief program. Administration officials told CNN the program needs $1.6 billion in additional funding to meet the approximately 3,000 Hurricane Helene-related applications it receives daily.
Last month, before Helene struck, the White House warned that the low level of funding could cause the SBA to “effectively cease operations” after paying out for weather-related costs and accidents, including the collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore, the continued recovery after the fall of Maui. wildfires and tornado damage in the Midwest.
According to early estimates from Moody’s Analytics, the damage caused by Helene could cost more than $34 billion. Private forecaster AccuWeather estimated the cost of the damage at $225 billion to $250 billion, with very little covered by private insurance.
The issue of Helene’s costs is already deeply political. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has said lawmakers will fully assess post-Helene needs after the election.
Former President Trump has accused Democrats of spending more than $640 million in Fema funds on housing migrants, a claim the White House calls “bold lies.”
On Friday in Georgia, Trump said: “A lot of the money that should have gone to Georgia, to North Carolina and everything else, is going and is already gone.
“It’s gone for people who entered the country illegally, and no one has ever seen anything like it. That’s a shame.”
Officials say these funds, approved by Congress, were part of a completely different Fema program that was not related to disaster relief but to provide housing for immigrants applying for U.S. citizenship.
The disaster agency responded to Trump’s claim with a fact-check page. “This is not true,” Fema said in a statement. “No money is being diverted from disaster response needs.” A week after the hurricane struck, more than $45 million has been distributed to communities affected by the storm.
