Despite the misinformation swirling in recent days, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is in no danger of running out of funds to help survivors in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.
The agency has enough funds to deal with the effects of hurricanes Helen and Milton, although long-term funding is questionable.
“I have funding and sufficient resources to support the continued response to Hurricane Helen and Hurricane Milton,” FEMA Administrator DeAnne Criswell told reporters Wednesday.
FEMA's job is to assist before, during, and after a disaster, including search and rescue operations and emergency shelters. In the long-term aftermath, the agency also helps rebuild communities.
Funding for the agency's disaster response efforts comes primarily from the Disaster Relief Fund.
The fund recently received an infusion of money through a stopgap spending measure passed by Congress last month, averting a government shutdown. The current holdings are about $11 billion, Criswell told reporters.
However, disaster response costs a lot of money.
“Even one event can account for billions of dollars,” said Anna Weber, senior policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
So $11 billion “doesn't really help, especially in the case of a catastrophe like the one we're facing today,” Weber said.
Nevertheless, FEMA also has backup funds available if disaster relief funds run out.
If that funding runs out, as it did earlier this year, agencies can adopt so-called “urgent funding” guidance.
When FEMA operates under its “Emergency Needs Fund,” it can direct funds to projects that would otherwise help rebuild communities in the long term or prepare for future disasters.
These projects will be put on hold so that FEMA can carry out lifesaving operations in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.
This movement of resources can negatively impact communities and municipalities where projects are halted and slow recovery. However, it would allow government agencies to carry out emergency operations even when funds are scarce.
Until a stopgap measure was passed earlier this year, FEMA was operating under emergency needs funding.
this isnot necessarily unusual: The agency previously implemented this guidance in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2017, and 2023.
There is also a risk that this will happen again. Criswell said last week that without additional funding, FEMA may need to resume emergency funding by January.
Doing so could harm “communities that have suffered major disasters in the past few years,” Weber said.
“The grants from Hurricane Katrina are still in effect,” she added, referring to the 2005 hurricane that hit Louisiana. “There is long-term work going on there.”
Other areas Weber pointed to include parts of Hawaii that were affected by last year's wildfires and parts of Florida that are recovering from Hurricane Ian in 2022.
“Projects that are in progress tend to get put on the back burner,” said Stan Zimont, senior community recovery advisor at Hagerty Consulting and a member of the Bipartisan Policy Center's Disaster Response Reform Task Force.
Gimont noted that this could include permanent construction and infrastructure repairs.
Because of this potential impact on communities, there are increasing calls for Congress to pass additional funding to FEMA so that these recovery projects can be funded in the event of another emergency.
FEMA and other officials have been pushing back on misinformation surrounding possible funding in recent days.
Former President Trump falsely claimed that government agencies did not have enough money to respond to Hurricane Helen because they spent money housing immigrants.
He also said the government is “giving people $750 for the worst hurricane we've ever seen.”
FEMAsaidSurvivors can be provided with much more than that, and the $750 figure only applies to certain types of payments for immediate necessities like food, water, and baby formula. Survivors may be eligible for additional support from government agencies.
Zach Budrick also contributed.
