In a year of intense natural disasters, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency is going through money fast. Here’s what led to it spending billions in just a matter of days.
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Hurricane season had hardly started when Hurricane Beryl hit Texas this summer, claiming lives and causing destruction. Since then, the U.S. has been swept up in what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration called a “highly active” season.
In recent weeks, Hurricane Helene brought devastation to several states, including parts of North Carolina far away from the coast. Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida this week, bringing more death and more pieces to pick up once the storm rolls out.
FEMA has been on the ground offering emergency services and working to providing those in need with Individuals and Households Program (IHP). This week Audacy took a closer look at agency spending over the years and where funds have been going in the wake of Helene.
According to NBC DFW, FEMA had actually run out of money allotted for this year by August. At that point in the year, Beryl had already hit and funds also went to aid people impacted by other natural disasters, such as those in parts the Southwest dealing with wildfires.
CNN reported that Congress opened up the agency’s 2025 budget to free up an additional $20 billion. Within eight days, FEMA spent nearly half of those funds, POLITICO said.
FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell said Wednesday that about $9 billion of that has already been spent since the agency came out of “immediate needs funding” on Oct. 1. Per CNN, she said $7 billion to $8 billion has gone to communities in Texas, California and New Mexico hit by earlier disasters, with the rest going to the current crises caused by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.
“This rapid spend rate is a reflection of just how many earlier disasters the agency is dealing with in addition to Milton and Helene,” said CNN. “And it may mean Congress needs to appropriate billions more in disaster funding for the agency earlier than expected.”
Adam Smith, a climatologist with NOAA who helps compile the government’s count of expensive extreme weather disasters, said that there have been around 24 billion-dollar disasters in the U.S. so far this year.
CNN said it’s too early to know how much more funding FEMA might need to address Helene and Milton recovery efforts. Smith anticipates that both storms will cost “a multiple of tens of billions of dollars each,” and he noted that more disasters could also add to the bill by the end of the year, since hurricane season isn’t even over until next month.
“This is the most open disasters that I have seen with FEMA, and it’s because we’re seeing an increase in the number of events,” Criswell said Wednesday, according to CNN. “We had an incredibly busy tornado season earlier this year. We had catastrophic and historic levels of flooding across many states this spring as well. We’ve had wildfires across much of the West.”
As far as more funding is concerned, Congress isn’t expected to return until after the presidential election next month. Currently, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, is working on relief efforts with the sitting administration. Former President Donald Trump, the GOP candidate, has been critical of the recovery efforts and has been called out for spreading disinformation.
“In recent days, Trump has repeatedly and falsely suggested that the federal government is purposely neglecting areas with Republican voters, that it is funneling emergency aid to migrants instead of disaster response, and that it’s giving hurricane victims just $750 in support,” said a report from Vox citing this Sept. 30 post on Truth Social.
“I’ll be there shortly, but don’t like the reports that I’m getting about the Federal Government, and the Democrat Governor of the State, going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas,” said Trump.
In response to rumors circulating on the internet, FEMA created a fact-check page. Criswell said FEMA is also concerned that people will not seek help due to misleading information.
When asked whether he had discussed the disinformation, President Joe Biden said: “Mr. President Trump – former President Trump, get a life, man. Help these people,” and added that “the public will keep him accountable.”
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