WASHINGTON (AP) — Money available to help communities hit by disasters has shrunk after back-to-back Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and the funding problems could jeopardize the government’s ability to respond to new emergencies in the future. the Federal Emergency Management Agency said. Chief said Wednesday.
Deanne Criswell warned during a Senate hearing with the heads of other agencies that FEMA’s disaster relief fund — the nation’s emergency checkbook — is less than $5 billion.
The Biden administration has asked Congress for nearly $100 billion in disaster relief. Most of that money, about $40 billion, would go to FEMA’s disaster relief fund.
The agency uses that fund to pay for things like removing debris, helping communities rebuild public infrastructure and giving disaster survivors money for costs like renting hotel rooms if their homes are uninhabitable .
The rest of the money would be distributed among other federal agencies:
– $24 billion for farmers who have suffered crop or livestock losses.
—$12 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s block grant programs to help communities recover.
– $8 billion to rebuild and repair highways and bridges.
– $4 billion for long-term improvements to the water system to reduce future damage from natural disasters.
FEMA received $20.2 billion as part of a temporary government funding bill passed by Congress in September. But just under half of that money went to recovery from disasters that have already occurred.
Criswell says the agency has more than 100 disasters to its credit for which it continues to pay out money to help with recovery efforts.
She says FEMA has paid out nearly $8 billion in federal aid in response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton and that its disaster relief fund has less than $5 billion left as of Wednesday.
“These needs are rapidly depleting our available resources, and without a replenishment our ability to respond to new disasters could be jeopardized,” Criswell said.
FEMA is assessing whether funding for immediate needs is needed, she said. That’s when the agency withdraws money from long-term projects that address past disasters to ensure there is enough money to pay for life-saving, immediate needs for future disasters.
“It is very clear that the stakes are high as our communities continue to experience devastating disasters and rely more and more on FEMA and our federal partners,” Criswell said.
The committee also heard from two senators from Georgia and North Carolina, states particularly hard hit by Helene and Milton.
Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat, described the damage the storms had inflicted on the state’s farmers and ranchers. Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, spoke passionately about the struggle the western part of his state still faces to recover from Helene.
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