FEMA Strains From Natural Disasters – Government Program Update
Please choose any of the following articles below that interest you. Each article is listed under the month it was written. Articles written in prior months may still have educational interest.
Following a multitude of natural disasters over the past few years, FEMA has been under increasing strain to make payouts to those that have lost homes and suffered property damage.
As hurricanes Helene and Milton pummeled Florida and neighboring states, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that the federal emergency funds provided by FEMA for disaster victims could be depleted by early January 2025 if Congress didn’t act to approve for additional funding.
During 2017, 2018 and 2019, Congress provided over $139 billion in supplemental disaster funding in response to disasters that occurred during these years, which included hurricanes and California wildfires.
FEMA has provided substantial financial assistance in response to various disasters over the past few years. In 2023, FEMA responded to more than 100 disasters with over $1.3 billion in assistance funds for disaster survivors. Communities and states also received nearly $12 billion to rebuild infrastructure damage. As of October 2024, FEMA had allocated over $137 million in aid to six southeastern states affected by Hurricane Helene.
Sources: FEMA, Treasury Dept., Office of Management and Budget
